Predicting disease recurrence in stage II colon cancer: expression signatures and other biomarkers

Colorectal carcinoma is the second most common cancer in females and the third most common in males, with an estimated 1.4 million cases and 693,900 cancer-related deaths in the year 2012 (1). The incidence of colorectal cancer is highest in developed, industrialized countries, with a generally higher incidence for men than women in most countries. Prediction of prognosis and treatment decisions in this disease entity rely strongly on the tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) classification for malignant tumors (UICC/AJCC), arguably the most well-established classification system worldwide (2).