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Medullary-Type Poorly Differentiated Adenocarcinoma of the Large Bowel: A Distinct Clinicopathologic Entity Characterized by Microsatellite Instability and Improved Survival

From the Department of Experimental and Diagnostic Medicine, Section of Anatomic Pathology, University of Ferrara, and Division of Clinical Oncology, St Anna Hospital, Ferrara, Italy.

Address reprint requests to Giovanni Lanza, MD, Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Diagnostica, Sezione di Anatomia Istologia e Citologia Patologica, Università di Ferrara, Via Fossato di Mortara 64/b, 44100 Ferrara, Italy; email lng{at}dns.unife.it

PURPOSE: Recent studies suggest the existence of a distinct class of poorly differentiated large bowel adenocarcinomas, usually termed medullary-type adenocarcinomas (MTAs). The aim of the present study was to accurately define the clinical, histopathologic, biologic, and genetic features of this tumor type.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among 1,265 surgically resected sporadic colorectal carcinomas, 45 MTAs were identified on the basis of the following criteria: predominantly solid growth pattern (at least 70% of the tumor area) and lack of marked nuclear pleomorphism. The clinicopathologic, biologic, and genetic characteristics of MTAs were compared with those of a series of 457 common glandular colorectal adenocarcinomas.

RESULTS: The significantly different clinicopathologic features of MTAs were proximal location, large size, invasion into adjacent organs, expanding pattern of growth, low incidence of distant metastases, more frequent conspicuous peritumoral lymphocytic infiltration, and Crohn's-like lymphoid reaction. Furthermore, young patients with MTAs often demonstrated a family history highly suggestive of a hereditary background. Unlike glandular adenocarcinomas, the large majority of MTAs were DNA diploid by flow cytometric analysis (21 of 25, 84%) and p53 negative by immunohistochemistry (36 of 41, 87.8%). In addition, 18 of the 20 MTAs examined by DNA microsatellite analysis demonstrated widespread microsatellite instability (90% of cases). Patients with MTAs showed a better clinical outcome with respect to patients with common poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas (PDAs) (P < .0001) and well- or moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas (WMDAs) (P = .133). In particular, none of the 33 patients with completely resectable stage II and III MTAs developed tumor recurrence during the observation period. Conversely, 24.7% of patients with stage II and III WMDAs and 48.9% of patients with stage II and III PDAs, who had undergone curative surgical resection, died of recurrent disease (P = .01 and P < .0001, respectively).

CONCLUSION: All these data strongly indicate that MTAs represent a distinct pathologic entity, with specific histologic appearance and peculiar clinical and genetic features. These tumors need to be classified separately from other poorly differentiated colorectal carcinomas.

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