Adjuvante Therapie des Kolonkarzinoms

Since its establishment 30 years ago, adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer has reduced the relapse rate and improved survival of patients after surgery. Adjuvant chemotherapy is therefore generally recommended in stage III tumors. By contrast, its benefit for stage II cancer in terms of survival benefit is questionable. The evaluation of various clinical trials identified factors that allow risk stratification for stage II. Accordingly, stage II colon cancer with microsatellite instability should be only followed up after curative surgery. Not only microsatellite instability, but also tumor location determine the prognosis of BRAF or KRAS mutant stage III. With the increasing knowledge on colon cancer, future developments will be directed towards a more stage-specific and individualized adjuvant therapy of colon cancer.