Immunological and Oxidative Stress Response in Relation to Abdominal Cancer Surgery

The aim of this study is to characterize the systemic stress response (SSR) induced in patients undergoing colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery. The project is a clinical prospective study. Blood samples will be collected from 30 patients on the day before CRC-surgery, and 1, 2, 3 and 10 days after surgery. A specimen from the resected tumor tissue will also be collected and sent for immunohistochemical analysis. Whole blood gene expression profiling will be performed to gain knowledge of the genetic changes in immunological, inflammatory and oxidative stress-related factors initiated by surgery. Peripheral immunological cells, proteins and cytokines will be analysed by FLOW and ELISA methods, and the functional capacity of NK-cells will also be defined for each time point. Furthermore, tumor tissue will be analyzed for invasion of immunological cells. At each time point, the patients will be asked to fill out a validated patient reported outcome measure with questions concerning clinical outcome parameters related to recovery after CRC-surgery