Abstract | CONTEXT:
Colorectal cancer is the leading cause of morbidity and death among gastrointestinal tumors and ranks fourth after lung, breast, and ovarian cancers. Despite a continuous refinement of the T ( tumor), N (node), and M ( metastasis) staging system to express disease extent and define prognosis, and eventually to guide treatment, the outcome of patients with colorectal cancer may vary considerably even within the same tumor stage. Therefore, the need for new factors, either morphologic or molecular, that could more precisely stratify patients into different risk categories is clearly warranted. OBJECTIVES: DATA SOURCES: Literature review of relevant articles indexed in PubMed (US National Library of Medicine) and primary material from the authors' institutions. CONCLUSIONS: Two emerging needs exist for the TNM system, namely, further stratification of patients with the same tumor stage and incorporation of nonanatomic factors, the latter including molecular and treatment factors. The identification and classification of morphologic features encountered in the pathologic examination of colorectal cancer specimens may be difficult and a source of subjective variability. Enhanced pathologic analysis, agreed-upon standard protocols, and standardization should improve the completeness and accuracy of pathology reports.
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Authors | Giacomo Puppa, Angelica Sonzogni, Romano Colombari, Giuseppe Pelosi |
Journal | Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine
(Arch Pathol Lab Med)
Vol. 134
Issue 6
Pg. 837-52
(Jun 2010)
ISSN: 1543-2165 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 20524862
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
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Chemical References |
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Topics |
- Antineoplastic Agents
(therapeutic use)
- Colorectal Neoplasms
(blood supply, drug therapy, pathology)
- Humans
- Neoplasm Staging
(methods, trends)
- Neovascularization, Pathologic
(pathology)
- Peritoneum
(pathology)
- Treatment Outcome
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