What Oncologists Should Know About Appendiceal Cancer

Andreana Holowatyj, PhD, MSCI, assistant professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology, Epidemiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discusses the characteristics of appendiceal cancer and what differentiates it from colorectal cancer.

Appendiceal cancer is unlike any other cancer. In an interview, Holowatyj explained that the disease has a unique molecular make up and little is known about causes, predictors, and prognostics for appendiceal cancer.

Transcription:

0:07| Appendiceal cancer is a unique malignancy because these cases are often discovered in an acute situation, meaning that we see appendiceal tumors incidentally found in about nearly 10% of cases undergoing a routine appendectomy. Often presenting as appendicitis. And so we do not understand the role of obesity and appendiceal cancer risk or outcomes are really detailed risk factors contributing to this disease burden across all ages and particularly among young patients.

0:43| Obesity and age have been reported in initial studies to be predictors of pathological cancer diagnosis after an appendectomy but yet we still do not understand risk factors for this malignancy, which is a bit prohibitive and understanding risk management and prevention guidelines for this population. So, I think of course, early disease detection and care for this malignancy as well as considering that it is its own distinct etiology and cancer type is I think, going to be the most important to help us really healed advances in this tumor type.