Tumor Biology

, Volume 37, Issue 5, pp 5727–5734 | Cite as

Segmental distribution of some common molecular markers for colorectal cancer (CRC): influencing factors and potential implications

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Abstract

Proximal and distal colorectal cancers (CRCs) are regarded as distinct disease entities, evolving through different genetic pathways and showing multiple clinicopathological and molecular differences. Segmental distribution of some common markers (e.g., KRAS, EGFR, Ki-67, Bcl-2, COX-2) is clinically important, potentially affecting their prognostic or predictive value. However, this distribution is influenced by a variety of factors such as the anatomical overlap of tumorigenic molecular events, associations of some markers with other clinicopathological features (stage and/or grade), and wide methodological variability in markers’ assessment. All these factors represent principal influences followed by intratumoral heterogeneity and geographic variation in the frequency of detection of particular markers, whereas the role of other potential influences (e.g., pre-adjuvant treatment, interaction between markers) remains rather unclear. Better understanding and elucidation of the various influences may provide a more accurate picture of the segmental distribution of molecular markers in CRC, potentially allowing the application of a novel patient stratification for treatment, based on particular molecular profiles in combination with tumor location.

Keywords

Colorectal cancer Biomarkers Tumor location Treatment Prognosis Prediction 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Ms. Aggeliki Oikonomaki for grammatical and spelling correction of the text.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflicts of interest

None

Human and animal rights and informed consent

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. For this type of studies, formal consent is not required.

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Copyright information

© International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM) 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Technological Educational Institute of AthensAthensGreece

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