Abstract
Extensive surgical treatment for peritoneal metastases originating from colorectal cancer provokes high morbidity and perioperative mortality rates, therefore careful and objective patient selection prior to such a procedure is crucial. Tumor-specific fluorescence-guided laparoscopy is a potential imaging technique for the improvement of patient selection. The aim is to select the patient that benefits the most of extensive and valuable surgical treatment, in terms of disease-free survival, overall survival and quality of life. Cancer-upregulated proteins and tumor-specific biological processes with matching fluorescence imaging agents could guide the surgeon to improved identification of malignant tissue during diagnostic laparoscopy and for detection of non-visible small tumor lesions during cytoreductive surgery.