Clinical Analysis of Primary Colorectal Signet-Ring Cell Carcinoma

The objective of the study was to investigate the clinicopathological features of primary colorectal signet-ring cell carcinoma. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical and survival data of 37 patients with primary colorectal signet-ring cell carcinoma. The mean survival time of patients in stage II, III, and IV were estimated using Student t test and the cumulative survival rates were estimated according to the method of Kaplan-Meier. The significance of the differences in survival rates were calculated using the log rank test. The incidence of primary colorectal signet-ring cell carcinoma was 1.40%, the median age of 37 patients was 50 years, the male to female ratio was 1.47:1, and 21 patients (56.8%) received a radical resection. Most patients 33 (89.2%) had an advanced tumor stage at the time of diagnosis (17 patients 45.9% stage III and 16 patients 43.2% stage IV), 34 (94.5%) patients showed a tumor depth of >T3, lymph node involvement occurred in 26 patients (70.3%), patients had a high incidence of peritoneal metastasis (16 patients 43.2% at presentation, 30 patients 81.1% at presentation and recurrence) and a low incidence of liver metastases (1 patients 2.7% at presentation, 5 patients 13.5% at presentation and recurrence). The 5-year survival rate after the initial surgery was 10.8%, the mean survival time of 37 patients was 27.1 ± 3.3 months, the mean survival time of patients in stage II, III, and IV were 47.0 ± 12.8 months, 37.1 ± 3.9 months, and 10.5 ± 1.4 months, respectively (P < .000). Colorectal signet-ring cell carcinoma is a rare neoplasm with a predominance in men. Its characteristic features were the advanced stage at the time of diagnosis, a high incidence of peritoneal metastases, a low incidence of liver metastasis, and a poor prognosis.