Single nucleotide polymorphisms in sporadic colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) etiology involves multiple disease pathways. An important research element for unraveling these carcinogenic pathways to CRC is to gain an understanding of genetic susceptibility to CRC at the population level; single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are central to this research. Examination of a broad spectrum of SNPs along multiple disease pathways should help our understanding of cancer biology and the carcinogenic process. However, one of the greatest research challenges today will be to implement and interpret studies that utilize SNPs to gain insight into the genetic susceptibility of CRC.