Colorectal cancer is one the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. It has a high mortality, low overall survival rate and poor prognosis for patients. Early detection of colorectal cancer remains a challenge and over 60% of patients are diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease. This has brought awareness around screening and surveillance programs to improve the rate of early detection. Surgical resection of the primary tumor and region lymph nodes is the most common form of treatment. Lymph nodes have been found to be one of key elements in the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system and a significant factor for predicting patient survival rate in colorectal cancer patients without distant metastasis. The presence of lymph node metastasis (LNM) has been identified as a prognostic factor which can be used to determine potential treatments for patients dependent on the stage of the disease. This could determine whether patients should go through additional surgery following local endoscopic treatment or whether adjuvant chemotherapy is required following surgical resection, specifically in the advanced stages of the disease.
Current studies are investigating how to improve the treatment options for colorectal cancer patients. Clinicians most commonly make treatment decisions by evaluating the nodal status based on limited radiological examinations which can include ultrasound and computed tomography as well as manual evaluations of histological features by using light microscopy. However, there are significant challenges with the evaluation of pathological features such as histological type, depth of tumor invasion and tumor stage for predicting the presence of LNM in colorectal cancer patients. Further studies are required to understand how lymph node metastasis acts as a prognostic factor for predicting colorectal cancer recurrence and survival in patients.
This Research Topic aims to explore how lymph nodes influence metastatic colorectal cancer. We welcome Original Research Articles, Review Articles and Systematic Review Articles.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Colorectal cancer is one the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. It has a high mortality, low overall survival rate and poor prognosis for patients. Early detection of colorectal cancer remains a challenge and over 60% of patients are diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease. This has brought awareness around screening and surveillance programs to improve the rate of early detection. Surgical resection of the primary tumor and region lymph nodes is the most common form of treatment. Lymph nodes have been found to be one of key elements in the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system and a significant factor for predicting patient survival rate in colorectal cancer patients without distant metastasis. The presence of lymph node metastasis (LNM) has been identified as a prognostic factor which can be used to determine potential treatments for patients dependent on the stage of the disease. This could determine whether patients should go through additional surgery following local endoscopic treatment or whether adjuvant chemotherapy is required following surgical resection, specifically in the advanced stages of the disease.
Current studies are investigating how to improve the treatment options for colorectal cancer patients. Clinicians most commonly make treatment decisions by evaluating the nodal status based on limited radiological examinations which can include ultrasound and computed tomography as well as manual evaluations of histological features by using light microscopy. However, there are significant challenges with the evaluation of pathological features such as histological type, depth of tumor invasion and tumor stage for predicting the presence of LNM in colorectal cancer patients. Further studies are required to understand how lymph node metastasis acts as a prognostic factor for predicting colorectal cancer recurrence and survival in patients.
This Research Topic aims to explore how lymph nodes influence metastatic colorectal cancer. We welcome Original Research Articles, Review Articles and Systematic Review Articles.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.