Colorectal Cancer Classification and Cell Heterogeneity: A Systems Oncology Approach

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Moisés Blanco-Calvo¹  Ángel Concha¹  Angélica Figueroa¹  Federico Garrido²  Manuel Valladares-Ayerbes¹ 

[1] Translational Cancer Research Group, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña (CHUAC), Servizo Galego de Saúde (SERGAS), Universidade da Coruña (UDC), As Xubias, 84, 15006 A Coruña, Spain; E-Mails:;Departamento de Bioquímica, Biología Molecular III e Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada, Avenida de Madrid, s/n, 18012 Granada, Spain; E-Mail:

关键词: colorectal cancer;    classification;    heterogeneity;    cancer systems biology;    molecular pathology;    targeted therapy;    precision medicine;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms160613610

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Colorectal cancer is a heterogeneous disease that manifests through diverse clinical scenarios. During many years, our knowledge about the variability of colorectal tumors was limited to the histopathological analysis from which generic classifications associated with different clinical expectations are derived. However, currently we are beginning to understand that under the intense pathological and clinical variability of these tumors there underlies strong genetic and biological heterogeneity. Thus, with the increasing available information of inter-tumor and intra-tumor heterogeneity, the classical pathological approach is being displaced in favor of novel molecular classifications. In the present article, we summarize the most relevant proposals of molecular classifications obtained from the analysis of colorectal tumors using powerful high throughput techniques and devices. We also discuss the role that cancer systems biology may play in the integration and interpretation of the high amount of data generated and the challenges to be addressed in the future development of precision oncology. In addition, we review the current state of implementation of these novel tools in the pathological laboratory and in clinical practice.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.