EGFR Signaling in Colorectal Carcinoma

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its downstream signaling pathways are involved in the development and progression of several human tumors, including colorectal cancer. Much attention has been given to the EGFR pathway as of lately because both EGFR and some downstream components serve as targets for anticancer therapy. In addition to playing a critical role in targeted therapy, alterations in this pathway can have prognostic implications. The EGFR pathway and its impact on colorectal carcinogenesis and prognosis are the emphasis of this paper. Since prognosis is tightly related to response to various therapies, the predictive value of the components of this pathway will be briefly discussed, but this is not the focus of this paper.