Some people who have been successfully treated for one colorectal cancer will be diagnosed with a new primary colorectal tumor later on — a metachronous tumor. Follow-up with colonoscopy can identify these cancers early so they can be treated. However, it isn’t clear who might be at greatest risk for metachronous cancer.
Korean scientists reviewed over 5,400 cases of colorectal cancer treated at the Asan Medical Centre in Seoul between 1989 and 2004. Overall there were 39 metachronous colorectal cancers (0.7%) in that time. The new cancers were diagnosed from 6 months to nearly 18 years after treatment for the initial colorectal cancer with a third found more than 5 years later.
Patients with metachronous cancers were more likely to have had initial diagnosis:
- at an earlier age. Average age for the first cancer was 53.
- in the right colon.
- with cancers or polyps in other locations in the colon at the same time (synchronous tumors).
Writing in the May 2006 issue of Colorectal Disease I.J. Park and colleagues concluded,
We found that in patients aged < 50 years, existence of synchronous polyps or cancer influence on the development of metachronous colorectal cancer. Regular follow-up is necessary for early detection, even after 5 years, for these patients.
metachronous colorectal cancer
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