BRAF mutant colorectal cancer as a distinct subset of colorectal cancer: clinical characteristics, clinical behavior, and response to targeted therapies

Despite new and more effective cytotoxic chemotherapy, limitations to conventional agents have been reached in a subset of patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). The identification of novel prognostic and predictive biomarkers to guide individualized treatment plans is critical to overcoming therapeutic resistance. Mutation of the BRAF proto-oncogene is linked to a variety of cancers and is increasingly being used as a prognostic tool and therapeutic target. This paper is a comprehensive review of the literature that summarizes the clinical, pathologic, and molecular features of BRAF mutated CRC that support the hypothesis that BRAF mutant cancers represent a distinct subset of CRC with its own clinical implications with regard to prognosis, treatments and emerging therapeutic strategies.