title: Clinicopathological characteristics of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The clinicopathological significance of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (Por) of the colorectum remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of Por by comparison with well (Well) and moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma (Mod) of the colorectum and by subclassification of Por into three types according to the amount of fibrous stroma in tumor tissue.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven patients with Por, 64 with Well and 254 with Mod were clinicopathologically compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Por was located predominantly in the right side of the colon. The maximal size of the tumors in Por (72.3+/-25.0 mm) was significantly larger than in Well (42.2+/-26.8 mm) and Mod (52.2+/-22.8 mm) (p=0.0009, 0.0047). The frequency of lymph node metastasis in Por was significantly higher than in Well (p=0.0009). The five-year survival rate for patients with Por was 45.5%, for Well was 71.4% and for Mod was 59.5% (NS). The medullary type of Por had a good prognosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Por proliferated and metastasized more rapidly than Well. The subclassification of Por according to the amount of fibrous stroma in tumor tissue could play an important role in the clinicopathological study of colorectal carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tone Chuo Hospital, Numata-city, Gunma, Japan. yukinao@dream.ocn.ne.jp
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuwano
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsuzuki
authors.forename: Tetsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sekihara
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asao
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003082:Colectomy / Q000379:methods; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011336:Probability; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis