Robert C.G. Martin II, MD, PhD, FACS

Experts discuss the critical role of clear pathology communication and risk assessment after colorectal cancer surgery, highlighting how surgical quality, pathologic staging, and timely ctDNA testing guide personalized adjuvant therapy decisions and coordinated long-term surveillance to optimize patient outcomes.

Experts discuss the expanding role of ctDNA as a prognostic and predictive tool in colorectal cancer management, emphasizing its ability to personalize postoperative surveillance and treatment decisions—particularly in ambiguous clinical scenarios—while highlighting the need for sensitive assays and thoughtful communication around emotionally challenging results.

Experts discuss how postoperative surveillance after colorectal cancer surgery is increasingly personalized by integrating pathologic staging, surgical quality, and ctDNA testing to adjust monitoring intensity, with higher-risk or uncertain cases receiving more aggressive follow-up to optimize early detection and intervention.

Experts discuss the pivotal role of ctDNA in postoperative colorectal cancer care, using it alongside pathology and staging to personalize recurrence risk assessment and guide adjuvant therapy decisions, particularly in nuanced cases where ctDNA results and clinical risk factors may not align.

Experts discuss how initial postoperative visits after colorectal cancer surgery integrate pathology review, recurrence risk assessment, and timely ctDNA testing to personalize prognosis and guide surveillance, emphasizing the importance of surgical quality indicators and molecular tools in shaping follow-up care.

Experts discuss how postsurgical surveillance for colorectal cancer varies by setting, with multidisciplinary teams leading coordinated care in academic centers, whereas surgeons in rural or resource-limited areas often take on expanded roles to ensure follow-up and monitoring are not compromised.