Clinico-epidemiological profile and treatment outcome in adolescents and young patients of rectal cancer attending a tertiary cancer center.

INTRODUCTION: The incidence of colorectal cancer in young adults is on an increasing trend. It is observed that this subgroup of patients has an aggressive disease and carries a poorer prognosis compared to its older counterpart. This study aimed to analyze the incidence, treatment outcome, and prognostic factors in adolescents and young adults with rectal cancer attending a tertiary cancer center in North India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 50 patients of histologically proven rectal cancer, aged up to 30 years, treated at our center between 2015 and 2019. The clinical, demographic, and pathological parameters were studied in all these patients. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to find out survival. Univariate analysis was performed to assess prognostic factors. RESULTS: The incidence was 26.4% at our center with a median age of 28 years. Bleeding per rectum was the commonest complaint. Most of them had signet ring cell histology (26%). The median overall survival was 16 months. Survival was significantly better in patients having bleeding per rectum as an initial complaint (P = 0.009), absence of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (P = 0.005), and perineural invasion (PNI) (P = 0.002), who received complete planned treatment compared to patients who could not receive either of the modality (P < 0.001). Patients who did not receive radiotherapy (RT) had the worst outcomes compared to those who received RT in any form. RT dose of 50.4 Gy was found to be superior as compared to other schedules. There was no significant difference in survival with gender, tumor stage, grade, type of surgery, or chemotherapy regimen. CONCLUSION: The majority of patients presented in an advanced stage. Therefore, bleeding per rectum should be properly and timely investigated in all these young patients. Early detection and complete treatment are paramount to improving the outcome.

Evaluation of survival outcomes and prognostic factors of carcinoma anal canal at a tertiary cancer center.

CONTEXT: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is considered a standard of care for patients with carcinoma anal canal. Being an unusual malignancy, there is limited Indian data regarding survival outcomes and prognostic factors. AIM: To evaluate survival outcomes and associated prognostic factors in patients with carcinoma anal canal treated with radical intent. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal, treated with radical intent between 2015 and 2019 were included in the study. Data regarding the baseline characteristics of the patients and treatment outcomes were collected and analyzed. Survival rates were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method. To determine survival difference between the groups, log-rank test was used. Multivariate analyses were performed with Cox proportional hazard models and P value < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Forty-two patients were identified after applying suitable eligibility criteria. The median age was 55 years (range: 26-80 years).The median follow-up duration was 23.5 months (range: 1.9-51.9 months). The 3-year overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and locoregional (LRC) were 78.5%, 53.1%, and 66.4%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, inferior DFS was significantly affected by lack of concurrent chemotherapy (CT) (hazard ratio [HR], 11.50; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.92-68.78; P = 0.007) and radiotherapy (RT) dose of 45 Gy or less (HR, 35.96; 95% CI, 6.32-204.56; P = 0.000). CONCLUSION: For patients of carcinoma anal canal, concurrent CT and RT dose are independent prognostic factors influencing DFS.