[Molecular tumor diagnostics-current methods, examples of application and future]

Molecular tumor diagnostics is rapidly evolving, driven by technological advances in high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics, and paralleled by the emergence of novel therapeutic approaches, not least in the field of immune oncology. Molecular stratification of common tumor entities such as colorectal carcinoma and the discovery of paradigmatic molecular changes such as NTRK fusions illustrate how molecular pathological investigations can be performed under diagnostic or predictive conditions and can also provide prognostic information. Promising recent developments include "liquid biopsy" and tumor agnostic strategies. A functioning interdisciplinary cooperation between oncology, bioinformatics and molecular pathology is prerequisite for modern oncological diagnostics based on the current state-of-the-art knowledge and decisive for optimal care of oncological patients.