Desmoplastic reaction in biopsy specimens of early colorectal cancer: A Japanese prospective multicenter study

We previously reported that detection of desmoplastic reaction (DR) in pretreatment biopsy specimens was useful for predicting the depth of submucosal invasion (SM depth) in nonpedunculated early colorectal cancers (ECRCs) in a retrospective study. Here, we performed a prospective multicenter study for verification of our previous findings. Subjects were diagnosed with ECRC by endoscopy, and with adenocarcinoma from the biopsy specimens. Eleven institutions affiliated with the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum participated in this collaborative study. A total of 112 patients with ECRC were enrolled. For nonpedunculated ECRCs, presence of DR was significantly correlated with SM depth. The sensitivity and specificity of detection of DR for prediction of pSM2 (tumor invasion ≥1000 µm) in nonpedunculated ECRCs were 68.6% and 92.0%, respectively. Evaluation of DR in pretreatment biopsy specimens may be useful for the clinicopathological diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma with massive invasion into the submucosal layer.