. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Jun 1.

Published in final edited form as: Curr Colorectal Cancer Rep. 2011 Jun 1;7(2):136–144. doi: 10.1007/s11888-011-0091-4

Table 1.

Summary of prognostic biomarkers for colorectal cancer

Biomarker	Alteration	General comments
Microsatellite instability	MSI-H	MSI-H or dMMR tumors are associated with longer DFS and OS. Evidence favors MSI-H as a strong prognostic biomarker. NCCN and ASCO guidelines recommend testing for MSI status on stage II CRC.
KRAS	Mutation	Prospective studies regarding the prognostic value of KRAS mutation are inconsistent.
BRAF	Mutation	Several studies demonstrate that BRAF mutation status is associated with shorter OS in MSS/MSI-L and KRAS WT tumors; however, only the NCCN recommends BRAF mutation testing in KRAS WT mCRC.
Loss of heterozygosity 18q	LOH 18q	Prospective studies regarding the prognostic value of LOH 18q are inconsistent. The ongoing E5202 will help provide additional data.
TP53	Mutation	Prospective studies regarding the prognostic value of TP53 mutation are inconsistent. EGTM and ASCO recommend against TP53 mutation analysis for prognosis.
Thymidylate synthase	Overexpression	Prospective studies regarding the prognostic value of thymidylate synthase overexpression are inconsistent.
VEGF	Overexpression	Data on VEGF expression status are limited; therefore, more studies are needed to determine VEGF expression status as a prognostic biomarker.

ASCO American Society of Clinical Oncology; CRC colorectal cancer; DFS disease-free survival; dMMR defective mismatch repair; EGTM European Group of Tumor Markers; LOH loss of heterozygosity; mCRC metastatic colorectal cancer; MSI microsatellite instability; MSI-H microsatellite instability-high; MSI-L microsatellite instability-low; MSS microsatellite instability-stable; NCCN National Comprehensive Cancer Network; OS overall survival; WT wild type