[Pathological diagnosis for individualized therapy of colorectal cancer].

Pathological diagnosis is essential today for the individualized therapy of colorectal cancer. In the routine analysis of colorectal carcinomas the molecular-pathological detection of a KRAS mutation predicts unresponsiveness to EGFR-targeted antibody therapies. Moreover, the detection of mismatch-repair deficiency or high-degree microsatellite instability indicates unresponsiveness to 5-FU monotherapy. Colorectal carcinomas with high-grade microsatellite instability and their associated morphologic subtypes, such as the medullary carcinoma, exhibit a low risk of distant metastasis and might be considered as carcinomas with low need for adjuvant chemotherapy.