Update of the recommendations for the determination of biomarkers in colorectal carcinoma: National Consensus of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology and the Spanish Society of Pathology

Abstract

In this update of the consensus of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (Sociedad Española de Oncología Médica SEOM) and the Spanish Society of Pathology (Sociedad Española de Anatomía Patológica SEAP), advances in the analysis of biomarkers in advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) as well as susceptibility markers of hereditary CRC and molecular biomarkers of localized CRC are reviewed. Recently published information on the essential determination of KRAS, NRAS and BRAF mutations and the convenience of determining the amplifcation of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), the expression of proteins in the DNA repair pathway and the study of NTRK fusions are also evaluated. From the pathological point of view, the importance of analysing the tumour budding and poorly diferentiated clusters, and its prognostic value in CRC is reviewed, as well as the impact of molecular lymph node analysis on lymph node staging in CRC. The incorporation of pan-genomic technologies, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) and liquid biopsy in the clinical management of patients with CRC is also outlined. All these aspects are developed in this guide, which, like the previous one, will remain open to any necessary revision in the future.