Basic characteristics and therapy regimens for colorectal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths, and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a rare histological type. Due to the lack of cases, there is no standard treatment for colorectal SCC. Methods: In our study, we compiled data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) database between 1988 and 2014 and analyzed overall survival (OS) between groups stratified by histological type, primary tumor site or treatment regimens. The SEER-Medicare database was also used to analyze the treatment regimens in the groups stratified by tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage. Results: Our results show that the colorectal SCC was commonly seen in females, and tends to have higher pT category and TNM stage. The 5-year survival rate for colorectal SCC was much lower than adenocarcinoma or mucinous adenocarcinoma and higher than signet ring cell carcinoma. Patients with rectal SCC also showed better prognosis compared with colon SCC. The colorectal patients received surgery with chemoradiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy alone have a significantly better prognosis than receiving surgery alone in SEER database. For stage I–III colorectal SCC patients who underwent an operation, chemotherapy and radiotherapy could improve the prognosis but failed to reach statistical significance, and chemotherapy is also an independent prognosis factor which could significantly improve the prognosis of stage IV colorectal SCC in SEER-Medicare database. Conclusions: The OS rate for colorectal SCC is much lower than for adenocarcinoma and mucinous adenocarcinoma. Rectal SCC patients had better prognosis than colonic SCC.