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©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 7, 2014; 20(29): 9850-9861
Published online Aug 7, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i29.9850
Published online Aug 7, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i29.9850
Controversies in the pathological assessment of colorectal cancer
Aoife Maguire, Kieran Sheahan, Department of Histopathology and Centre for Colorectal Disease, St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin 4, Ireland
Kieran Sheahan, School of Medicine and Medical Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
Author contributions: Maguire A and Sheahan K contributed equally to this work; Sheahan K contributed the photographs.
Correspondence to: Kieran Sheahan, Professor, Consultant Histopathologist, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Histopathology and Centre for Colorectal Disease, St. Vincents University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland. k.sheahan@st-vincents.ie
Telephone: +353-1-2214733 Fax: +353-1-2094840
Received: October 12, 2013
Revised: January 10, 2014
Accepted: April 1, 2014
Published online: August 7, 2014
Revised: January 10, 2014
Accepted: April 1, 2014
Published online: August 7, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: Pathologic assessment plays a key role in management of colorectal cancer. Tumor-node-metastasis staging of colorectal cancer provides prognostic information but some morphological features not included in the staging system also have prognostic value. However some of these elements lack agreed definitions, are subjective and poorly reproducible. We discuss controversial areas of colorectal cancer histopathology reporting including tumor budding, tumor grade, tumor deposits, tumor regression grade, vascular invasion, perineural invasion and peritoneal involvement.