New Insights into Colorectal Cancer Molecular Classification and Patient Stratification Strategies

Colorectal cancer (CRC) management is typically characterized by a multidisciplinary approach. In recent years, new surgical techniques, innovative equipment and developments in diagnosis and molecular classification of the pathology have led to significant improvement in oncologic outcomes, as well as a new understanding of the biological aspects of disease. Currently, scientific efforts are mainly focusing on increasing quality of life, reducing treatment-related toxicity and personalizing the therapy by stratification of the patients based on their particular profile.

Molecular characterization of CRC tumors is crucial to guide treatment decisions and leads to significant impact on disease outcome. This approach classically refers to the characterization of the mutation profile within the tissue harvested through a biopsy at diagnosis. However, it is widely accepted that tumors are highly heterogeneous and sampling in its entirety is challenging. Furthermore, tumors are highly susceptible to alterations in their molecular genotype, making clinical decisions based on historical biopsy data out of date. In this context, the concept of personalized medicine for cancer patients aims to tailor the best treatment options for the individual both at diagnosis time and during treatment. For this, liquid biopsy was developed as an easily accessible and minimal invasive way to trace the molecular makeup of a patient's tumor. Liquid biopsies have the potential to help clinicians screen for disease, stratify patients to the best treatment and monitor treatment response and resistance mechanisms in the tumor. Liquid biopsies allow detection of different molecules circulating in the blood stream that may play an important role in tumors characterization, monitoring their evolution and evaluating treatment response and pharmacological resistance. These include circulating-free DNA (cfDNA), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and extracellular vehicles (EVs).

In this context, we invite you to submit either an original research or a review article to this Research Topic on “New Insights into Colorectal Surgical Oncology Practice and Patients Stratification”. The scope of this Research Topic in Frontiers is to further expand our current knowledge in the field of colorectal cancer (CRC) management, one of the most frequently occurring malignancy. We encourage you to submit original, short communications or systematic reviews approaching clinical and translational research.
This Research Topic will focus on, but not be limited to, the following “hot topics” in CRC management: a) liquid biopsy for stratification and monitoring of cancer patients, b) personalized therapies; c) diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, especially non-invasive approaches; d) modern approaches in CRC surgical oncology practice and e) endoscopic and surgical therapeutics;