title: Clinicopathological significance of synchronous carcinoma in colorectal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Synchronous colorectal carcinoma has seldom been studied in large series. The study was designed to examine the significance of colorectal synchronous carcinoma in a large cohort of patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The clinicopathological features of 102 patients with synchronous colorectal carcinoma were compared with 1,793 patients with solitary colorectal carcinoma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of synchronous colorectal carcinoma was 3.6%. In these patients, 4% had FAP, 6% had hyperplastic polyposis, and 2% had ulcerative colitis. The index carcinoma was more likely to have higher histological grade and T stage than other carcinoma(s) in the same patient. When compared with solitary colorectal carcinoma, synchronous colorectal carcinoma was more often noted in males with coexisting FAP and in proximal location. The 5-year survival rate of patients with synchronous colorectal carcinoma was 53% and was similar to those with solitary colorectal carcinoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We examined the clinicopathological features of patients with synchronous colorectal carcinomas in a large cohort of patients. Attention to these features was important for better management of this group of cancer.
authors: Division of Pathology, School of Medicine, Griffith Institute of Health and Medical Research, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia. a.lam@griffith.edu.au
authors: Alfred King-Yin
authors: AK
authors: Lam
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Carmichael
authors: Petra
authors: P
authors: Gertraud Buettner
authors: Vinod
authors: V
authors: Gopalan
authors: Yik-Hong
authors: YH
authors: Ho
authors: Simon
authors: S
authors: Siu