Molecular biomarkers for an early diagnosis, effective treatment and prognosis of colorectal cancer: Current updates

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent cancer in the world. Globally, it has been estimated that about 1.4 million new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed every year. CRC is a multifactorial disease that arises due to genetics as well as epigenetic alterations in a number of oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, mismatch repair genes, as well as cell cycle regulating genes in colon mucosal cells. These molecular alterations have been considered as potential CRC biomarkers because they can provide the physicians with diagnostic, prognostic and treatment response information. The goal is to identify relevant, cheap and applicable biomarkers that contribute to patient management decisions, resulting in direct benefits to patients. In this review, we will outline the most currently available and developing tumor tools, and blood molecular biomarkers. Also, we will illustrate their diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic applications.