title: Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers in Colorectal Cancer: Implications for the Clinical Surgeon.
abstract: Colorectal cancer is a heterogeneous disease with a wide range of long-term outcomes and responses to treatment. Recent advances in the genetic and molecular characterization of tumors has yielded a set of prognostic and predictive biomarkers that aid the identification of patients at higher risk for disease recurrence and progression, and in some cases indicate the likelihood of response to a specific treatment. Increasingly, these biomarkers have become integral to the treatment algorithm for managing patients with colorectal cancer. Prognostic and predictive factors in colorectal cancer can broadly be categorized into treatment impact, clinicopathologic factors, and molecular markers. This review will focus primarily on molecular markers, which are foundational to the paradigmatic shift toward personalized cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. derstad@partners.org.
authors.forename: Derek J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Erstad
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda. tumurald@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tumusiime
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. jcusack@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cusack
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D043171:Chromosomal Instability; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003123:Colorectal Neoplasms, Hereditary Nonpolyposis / Q000235:genetics; D018899:CpG Islands / Q000235:genetics; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D018450:Disease Progression; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics*; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018773:Genes, erbB-1; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II / Q000235:genetics; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D053842:Microsatellite Instability; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D057285:Precision Medicine; D011379:Prognosis; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000235:genetics; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) / Q000235:genetics; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; C117307:KRAS protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D035683:MicroRNAs; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D066246:ErbB Receptors; C482119:BRAF protein, human; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; C579846:NRAS protein, human; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)