Clinical outcomes for rectal carcinoid tumors according to a new (AJCC 7th edition) TNM staging system: a single institutional analysis of 122 patients

This study aimed to describe clinical outcomes of rectal carcinoids according to the 7th American Joint Council on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging system.We retrospectively reviewed 122 patients who were treated for rectal carcinoids between 1995 and 2010.Among 122 patients, 81.2% (n = 99) were classified as stage I, 4.9% (n = 6) as stage II, 11.5% (n = 14) as stage III, and 2.5% (n = 3) as stage IV. Lymph node (LN) metastasis rates for pT1a, 1b, 2, and 3 stages were 1.2% (1/85), 16.7% (3/18), 0% (0/4) and 84.6% (11/13), respectively. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 88.4%. The 5-year OS rates were estimated to be 100%, 80%, 51.4% and 0% for stage I, II, III, and IV, respectively (P0.001). The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 82.3%. The 5-year DFS rates were estimated to be 97.7%, 62.5%, 17.1%, and 0% for stages I, II, III, and IV, respectively (P0.001).Using the new TNM stage, we confirmed a prognostic difference in LN metastasis rates, OS, and DFS for rectal carcinoids. In clinical practice, the new TNM stage can be very useful for predicting prognosis.