To view the full text, please login as a subscribed user or purchase a subscription. Click here to view the full text on ScienceDirect. Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cause of death by cancer worldwide. About 85% of those cases are sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC).Translesion synthesis (TLS) is a pathway of the DNA damage tolerance system. TLS bypasses DNA lesions, through specialized DNA polymerases, allowing the completion of replication of damaged genomes.