Figure 1.

Flow diagram of patient selection. The LiM and LuM cohorts were matched 1:1 according to age (within the range of ±10 years, with the LuM patient as the reference), sex (male, female), primary location (left colon, upper rectum, middle rectum, and lower rectum), T stage (T1–2, T3–4), N stage (positive, negative), histology (with or without a mucinous carcinoma or signet ring cell carcinoma component), and differentiation grade (well to moderate, poor to undifferentiated). CRC, colorectal cancer; LuM, lung metastases; LiM, liver metastases; NGS, next-generation sequencing.