Rate of growth of rectal adeno-carcinoma

[Jupiter]

My 60 yr. old brother on colonoscopy in 2007 was found to have a 3 by 4 cm. adenocarcinoma. It went into a little of the muscle layer,

What is the rate of growth of this kind of cancer ? How long could it have been there ?

It wasn't on a polip, but the cancer was flat. One doctor said it could have started two years prior. That seems awfully fast to me. He called it a "doubling time".

What's the truth on its' speed of growth ?



Thank you.

[Dr. Safaa Mahmoud]

Hello,

Please provide us with the exact results of his pathologic study as written in his report as well as the type of the operation and postsurgical treatment if any was given.

I guess you meant that he had a tumor of the rectum that was invading the superficial muscle layer. This according to Tumor Node Metastases TNM classification is T2 and if he was node negative so N0 (more likely at this stage), and obviously no metastasis so M0.

Thus, by TNM staging he has stage I disease (T2N0M0).
Treatment option for those patients include local excision when they have a small (< 3-4 cm), well to moderately differentiated T1 rectal cancer mass with no lymphovascular involvement on histopathology, as long as a full-thickness negative margin can be obtained.

Patients with stage I have excellent long term survival and local control, with five-year local control rates ranging from 82 to 97%, and recurrence-free survival rates of >90 percent.

Close follow up with his doctor is essential, as early diagnosis of local recurrence can keep his chances in achieving another long term disease control.

Please keep us updated.
Best regards.

[Jupiter]

Wow !! That sounds right. I'll get the records from him in two days. BUT my question was not about the future,,, I wanted to know who long that tumor has been there.... its growth rate.

Would it have been there flat for a year ? Two years ?