title: Serum and tissue markers in colorectal cancer: State of art.
abstract: Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in Western Countries. In the last decade, the survival of patients with metastatic CRC has improved dramatically. Due to the advent of new drugs (irinotecan and oxaliplatin) and target therapies (i.e. bevacizumab, cetuximab, panitumab, aflibercept and regorafenib), the median overall survival has risen from about 12 mo in the mid nineties to 30 mo recently. Molecular studies have recently widened the opportunity for testing new possible markers, but actually, only few markers can be recommended for practical use in clinic. In the next future, the hope is to have a complete panel of clinical biomarkers to use in every setting of CRC disease, and at the same time: 1) to receive information about prognostic significance by their expression and 2) to be oriented in the choice of the adequate treatment. Moreover, molecular analyses have shown that the natural history of all CRCs is not the same. Individual patients with same stage tumors may have different long-term prognosis and response to therapy. In addition, some prognostic variables are likely to be more important than others. Here we review the role of serum and tissue markers according to the recently published English literature. This paper is an extension of the article "Biological and clinical markers in colorectal cancer: state of art" by Cappellani A published in Jan 2010.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Institute, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico of Aviano, IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, PN, Italy. Electronic address: mberretta@cro.it.
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berretta
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico of Aviano, IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, PN, Italy.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alessandrini
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Institute IRCCS Pascale, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Divitiis
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Institute IRCCS Pascale, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Guglielmo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nasti
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Institute, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico of Aviano, IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, PN, Italy.
authors.forename: Arben
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lleshi
authors.affiliation: Hematology-Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Unit, National Cancer Institute IRCCS Pascale, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Francia
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Uro-Gynaecological Oncology, Istituto Nazionale Tumori "Fondazione G. Pascale" - IRCCS, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Facchini
authors.affiliation: Department of Onco-Ematology Medical Oncology, S.G. Moscati Hospital of Taranto, Taranto, Italy.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cavaliere
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University Federico II of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buonerba
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico of Aviano, IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, PN, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Canzonieri
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor
keywords: Colorectal cancer; Metastasis; Prognosis; Serum markers; Tissue markers