[Molecular biology in the development of colorectal cancer]

In 1988, Vogelstein and colleagues published a paper entitled "Genetic alterations during colorectal-tumor development." This marked the beginning of a series of advances in our understanding of how colorectal cancer develops. This paper also provided evidence for the adenoma-carcinoma sequence. Furthermore, the importance of DNA mismatch repair genes in hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer has been recognized. We herein discuss the development of colorectal cancer on the basis of molecular biology, including specific abnormalities of related genes.