Ideas in this flowchart

• Targeted therapy extends treatment options in advanced colorectal cancer.
• Targeted therapy acts on tumor-specific molecular vulnerabilities.
• Tumor genetic mutations create these molecular vulnerabilities.
• Key genetic alterations include RAS, BRAF, and HER2.
• RAS alterations create a pathway dependency.
• BRAF alterations create a pathway dependency.
• HER2 alterations create a pathway dependency.
• Corresponding drugs are designed to block the dependent pathways.
• In advanced colorectal cancer, targeted agents are typically combined with chemotherapy.
• The combination extends systemic treatment into additional biological territory.
• Chemotherapy alone cannot address this biological territory.
• Surgery has no access to this biological territory.