LEADING ARTICLE

Colorectal cancer prognosis: is it all mutation, mutation, mutation?

A B Hassan, C Paraskeva

Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (formerly Pathology and Microbiology), School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor A B Hassan
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (formerly Pathology and Microbiology), School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK; Bass.Hassan{at}Bristol.ac.uk

For the 500 000 new cases of colorectal cancer in the world each year, identification of patients with a worse prognosis and those who are more likely to respond to treatment is a challenge. There is an increasing body of evidence correlating genetic mutations with outcome in tumours derived from human colorectal cancer cohorts. K-ras, but not p53 or APC, mutations appear to be associated with poorer overall survival in colorectal cancer patients.

Abbreviations: K-ras, Kirsten-ras; APC, adenomatous polyposis coli

Keywords: genome; colorectal cancer; mutation; prognosis; Kirsten-ras; adenomatous polyposis coli; p53

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