Bengs S, et al. - Researchers sought to evaluate β6-integrin (ITGB6) as a novel serum tumor marker for diagnosis, prognosis, and surveillance of colorectal cancer (CRC). ITGB6 serum levels were validated in retro- and prospective CRC patient cohorts. The serum from CRC, but not non-CRC control patients, had ITGB6 in an initial cohort of 60 CRC patients. For the presence of metastatic CRC, a cut-off of ≥2ng/mL ITGB6 had 100% specificity. ITGB6 forecast the onset of metastatic disease and was associated with poor prognosis in a larger study cohort of 269 CRC patients. On assessing serum ITGB6-levels in 26 CRC patients, pre- and post-surgery, as well as during follow-up visits, they identified that a new rise in ITGB6 serum levels during follow-up indicates tumor recurrence or the onset of new metastasis, confirmed by CT scan. In comparison to the established marker carcinoembryonic antigen, ITGB6 was identified to be more accurate for prognosis of advanced CRC and for tumor surveillance.