Andrea Pretta, Assistant Professor at University Hospital and University of Cagliari, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Early-onset locally advanced rectal cancer: similar response, worse survival?
Pleased to share our multicenter Italian study just published in Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology.
In 305 patients with stage II–III rectal cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery, we compared early-onset (≤50 years) versus average-onset disease.
Key findings:
- Comparable radiological and pathological response
- Similar disease-free survival
- Significantly worse overall survival in early-onset patients
Importantly, even within the pMMR subgroup – representing most cases – DFS was comparable while OS remained inferior in younger patients. A worse prognosis was also observed among dMMR early-onset tumors.
These findings reinforce the hypothesis that early-onset rectal cancer may represent a biologically distinct clinical entity rather than simply earlier presentation of the same disease.
As incidence continues to rise globally, deeper biological characterization and tailored strategies are urgently needed.
Grateful to all co-authors and institutions involved.”
Title: Clinical characteristics and outcomes in patients with early-onset locally advanced rectal cancer
Authors: Andrea Pretta, Riccardo Giampieri, Pina Ziranu, Andrea Bottelli, Clelia Donisi, Elisa Tiberi, Erika Cimbro, Giovanni Randon, Matteo Fraschini, Dario Spanu, Luca Didaci, Veronica Dell’Utri, Gianluca Pretta, Stefano Mariani, Marco Puzzoni, Valeria Pusceddu, Rossana Berardi, Filippo Pietrantonio, Gavino Faa, Mario Scartozzi
Read the full article.
