Epidemiology of Adenosquamous Carcinomas

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Cancer Research
• Tumor Histology

Background:

• Adenosquamous carcinomas (ASCs) are rare tumors with mixed glandular and squamous cell differentiation.
• Existing literature primarily consists of case reports, lacking comprehensive comparative analyses.
• There is a need to compare clinicodemographic and survival outcomes of ASCs against conventional adenocarcinomas (ACs) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) across multiple sites.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a pan-site comparative analysis of adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) outcomes.
• To compare the clinicodemographic and survival data of ASCs with conventional adenocarcinomas (ACs) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs).
• To identify specific sites where ASCs present with distinct characteristics and survival rates.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database from 1975 to 2020.
• Included eight primary cancer sites, representing 92.7% of all diagnosed ASC cases.
• Performed multivariable analysis adjusting for age, sex, stage, grade, and treatment modalities.

Main Results:

• Lung and uterine/cervical cancers account for the majority of ASC cases.
• ASCs often present at later stages with poorer differentiation compared to ACs and SCCs, except in pancreatic and oral cavity cancers.
• After multivariable adjustment, ASCs generally showed worse overall survival than ACs and SCCs across most sites, notably colorectal ASCs.

Conclusions:

• ASC outcomes are site-specific but generally worse than non-variant ACs and SCCs, even after accounting for clinical factors.
• The unique tumor biology of ASCs is poorly understood and requires further investigation.
• These findings highlight the need for targeted research into ASCs to improve patient outcomes.