In cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, metastasis is
uncommon, however survival is high.
 |
| Image: Cancer Cells | InStyleHealth |
According to a recent Dutch study, metastasis is
uncommon among patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), albeit
it may be more likely in men, older patients, and those who are
immunocompromised. Metastatic cSSC (mCSSC) has a high disease-specific survival
rate.
Researchers used data from the Netherlands Cancer Registry to conduct a statewide investigation, obtaining information on 11,137
patients diagnosed with their first cSSC in 2007 or 2008. A total of 217
patients with mcSSC were verified after a median follow-up of 9.1 years. The
majority of metastases occurred within the first four years of a patient's
diagnosis.
Over the course of ten years of follow-up, the overall
cumulative incidence rate of mcSSC was barely 1.9 percent, with an estimated
time to occurrence of 1.5 years. The incidence rate of mcSSC was substantially
higher in men than in women (2.3 percent vs. 1.4 percent; p0.001).
Men were marginally but significantly more likely than
women to develop mcSSC (hazard ratio [HR], 1.7, 95 percent confidence range
[CI], 1.3–2.3), as did older patients, with each year of increased age raising
the risk by 3% (HR, 1.03, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.02–1.05).
Immunocompromised people, notably those with hematologic
malignancies (HR, 2.7, 95 percent CI, 1.6–4.6) and organ transplant patients
(HR, 5.0, 95 percent CI, 2.5–10.0), had a significantly higher risk of mcSSC.
In terms of survival, researchers reported a
disease-specific 5-year survival rate of 99.4%. Overall survival was
substantially lower, at 69.8%, because the majority of deaths were due to other
causes.