A Field Defect in Colorectal Cancer?

Synchronous colorectal cancer refers to the occurrence of two or more primary colorectal carcinomas in the same patient. If synchronous cancers were to have similar molecular features, that would argue for presence of a field defect.

To examine this issue, investigators analyzed data from 47 patients with synchronous colorectal cancers and 2021 controls with solitary colorectal cancers who participated in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Molecular analyses were performed on tissue from 29 patients with synchronous cancers and from 1084 patients with solitary cancers (controls). Patient survival was also examined. Patients with synchronous cancers were older than those with solitary cancers (P=0.016). Syn…