Phipps AI, Alwers E, Harrison T, et al. - In a pooled analysis of data from seven observational studies of patients (n = 5,010) with colorectal cancer, researchers analyzed the connection among markers of different subtypes of colorectal tumors and patient survival. Disease-specific survival (DSS) was significantly longer in patients with type 2 colorectal tumors than in patients with type 4 tumors, regardless of gender, age, or stage at diagnosis. Patients without microsatellite instability (MSI)-high tumors, irrespective of other tumor markers or stage, or patient gender or age, had significantly shorter time of DSS vs patients with MSI-high tumors. The authors discovered that tumor subtypes, defined by combinations of 4 common tumor markers, were linked to differences in survival time. Therefore, colorectal tumor subtypes may be used to assess the prognoses of patients.