Copyright
©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 7, 2015; 21(13): 3763-3772
Published online Apr 7, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i13.3763
Published online Apr 7, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i13.3763
Field cancerisation in colorectal cancer: A new frontier or pastures past?
Abhilasha Patel, Nigel Williams, Department of Colorectal Surgery, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry CV2 2DX, United Kingdom
Gyanendra Tripathi, Ramesh P Arasaradnam, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
Kishore Gopalakrishnan, Department of Pathology, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry CV2 2DX, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Patel A, Tripathi G and Arasaradnam RP performed the literature search and wrote the paper; Gopalakrishnan K and Williams N reviewed the literature and revised the manuscript.
Supported by Bowel Disease Research Foundation, United Kingdom.
Conflict-of-interest: No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Abhilasha Patel, Research Registrar, Department of Colorectal Surgery, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Clifford Bridge Road, Coventry CV2 2DX, United Kingdom. abhilasha.patel@doctors.org.uk
Telephone: +44-2476-966101 Fax: +44-2476-966090
Received: November 28, 2014
Peer-review started: November 28, 2014
First decision: December 26, 2014
Revised: January 9, 2015
Accepted: February 12, 2015
Article in press: February 13, 2015
Published online: April 7, 2015
Peer-review started: November 28, 2014
First decision: December 26, 2014
Revised: January 9, 2015
Accepted: February 12, 2015
Article in press: February 13, 2015
Published online: April 7, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: There is a great deal of interest in developing non- invasive tests that are able to detect colorectal cancer in the asymptomatic population. Most current research activity is focussed on investigating the biological changes found in tumour tissue itself. This review evaluates the biological alterations found in the normal mucosa around a neoplastic lesion and critically analyses the concept of field cancerisation. It highlights recent advances and identifies important molecular targets that could play a role in early colorectal carcinogenesis. In particular, the available evidence for field cancerisation is scrutinised and future avenues for further scientific enquiry are outlined.