PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Telgenhoff, Dale
AU  - Dubansky, Brooke
AU  - Lewis, Sally
TI  - Histologic and Immunochemical Assessment of Colorectal Cancers
AID  - 10.29074/ascls.2022003207
DP  - 2023 Apr 01
TA  - American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
PG  - 55--60
VI  - 36
IP  - 2
4099  - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/36/2/55.short
4100  - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/36/2/55.full
SO  - Clin Lab Sci2023 Apr 01; 36
AB  - Traditional assessment of colorectal cancer includes gross anatomy, routine histology, special stains, and immunohistochemistry. Newer methods, including molecular techniques, can better predict recurrence potential and directed treatments. Distinction of benign versus malignant neoplasms leads to a series of additional tests that are useful in guiding diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. In this article, we focus on the histological assessment of grade and stage of the tumor, utilizing the College of American Pathologists and the American Society for Clinical Oncology guidelines. We then discuss the definition and utility of cancer staging in the determination of treatment. The 5-year median survival rate estimate is based on these staging principles; thus, practitioners utilize this system to develop a precise treatment plan taking individual patient variables into consideration. Screening of the patient for specific tumor markers from the serum or on the excised neoplasm further helps elucidate cancer subtype and therapy. Markers, such as carcinoembryonic antigen C-reactive protein in the serum as well as numerous immunohistochemical markers, are utilized for this purpose. Finally, we examine Lynch syndrome, mismatch repair proteins, and microsatellite instability as additional markers and potential treatment targets.