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A 10-Year Outcomes Evaluation of Mucinous and Signet-Ring Cell Carcinoma of the Colon and Rectum

  • Original Contributions
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Diseases of the Colon & Rectum

PURPOSE

Most studies examining mucinous or signet-ring cell colorectal cancers are single institution reports. This study used a national cancer registry to analyze the epidemiology and survival outcomes of these two subtypes of colorectal cancer compared with adenocarcinoma tumors.

METHODS

All patients diagnosed with mucinous (n = 16,991), signet-ring cell (n = 1,522), or adenocarcinoma (n = 146,115) colorectal cancer in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (1991–2000) were evaluated. Analyses were performed to obtain age-adjusted incidence rates, stage at presentation, tumor grade, and five-year relative survival for each subtype.

RESULTS

Mucinous were slightly more common in females (53.4 percent). Incidence rates per 100,000 persons were: mucinous, 5.5; signet-ring cell, 0.6; and adenocarcinoma 46.6. The annual percent change during ten years was stable for mucinous, increased for signet-ring cell (4.8 percent; P < 0.05), and decreased for adenocarcinoma (−1.1 percent; P < 0.05). Fewer mucinous (18 percent) and signet-ring cell (21 percent) tumors were located in the rectum compared with adenocarcinoma (29 percent). Signet-ring cell presented at later stage (III/IV, 80.9 percent) more often than mucinous (52.8 percent) and adenocarcinoma (49.5 percent), and also had worse tumor grade (high grade: signet-ring cell, 73.5 percent; mucinous, 20.9 percent; adenocarcinoma, 17.5 percent). Relative five-year survival was worse for signet-ring cell than mucinous or adenocarcinoma.

CONCLUSIONS

We present a large population-based review of colorectal cancer subtypes by analyzing national data from the past decade. Although the incidence of colorectal adenocarcinoma is decreasing in the United States, mucinous and signet-ring cell subtypes are stable and increasing, respectively. Importantly, it seems that the signet-ring cell subtype has worse outcomes, whereas survival rates for mucinous tumors are similar to adenocarcinomas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Daehang Hospital, Seoul, Korea

    Hakjung Kang M.D., Ph.D.

  2. Department of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

    Hakjung Kang M.D., Ph.D., Jessica B. O’Connell M.D., Melinda A. Maggard M.D., Jonathan Sack M.D. & Clifford Y. Ko M.D., M.S., M.S.H.S.

  3. Department of Surgery, Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California

    Jessica B. O’Connell M.D. & Clifford Y. Ko M.D., M.S., M.S.H.S.

Authors
  1. Hakjung Kang M.D., Ph.D.
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  2. Jessica B. O’Connell M.D.
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  3. Melinda A. Maggard M.D.
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  4. Jonathan Sack M.D.
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  5. Clifford Y. Ko M.D., M.S., M.S.H.S.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Clifford Y. Ko M.D., M.S., M.S.H.S. .

Additional information

Supported in part by a Limited Project Grant from The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Research Foundation.

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Kang, H., O’Connell, J., Maggard, M. et al. A 10-Year Outcomes Evaluation of Mucinous and Signet-Ring Cell Carcinoma of the Colon and Rectum. Dis Colon Rectum 48, 1161–1168 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10350-004-0932-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10350-004-0932-1

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