PoDA algorithm: Predictive pathways in colorectal cancer

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has the third highest incidence in men, and the second highest in women worldwide. As it is known, both genetic and environmental factors play a role in colorectal cancer. So far, the most common way of studying genetic factors affecting CRC has been the SNP-SNP analysis. However, since these rarely act in an individualized way, it would be interesting to study them together. For that reasons, it is important to detect pathways or SNPs with a known relation which plays a role in this disease. In this study, we use Pathway of Distinction Analysis methodology (PoDA) in order to do it. PoDA is a novel bioinformatics tool that identifies significant pathways that could play an essential role in a specific disease based on genetics distance. Based on this method, we state that mitochondrial biogenesis pathway could be a good predictor pathway on colorectal cancer.