Impact of Carcinoid and Appendiceal Site Inclusion on Early Onset Colon Cancer Incidence Rate Analysis in the United States

Abstract

Early onset colorectal cancer incidence rates (IR) are rising in the United States.1 Prior early onset colorectal cancer Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) studies have combined adenocarcinomas and carcinoids (neuroendocrine tumors) under the umbrella term “colorectal cancer,” which can bias IR interpretations given that only adenocarcinomas are the target of national screening initiatives. Our recent study using SEER 18 demonstrated that both colon and rectal carcinoids are rising at a higher rate than adenocarcinomas in young patients, which underscores the importance of analyzing these subtypes independently if we want to obtain an accurate depiction of colorectal cancer (adenocarcinoma) rates.