Second primary malignancies: A clinicopathological study from a tertiary care centre

Abstract

Background: Second primary malignancy (SPM) is defined as a second de novo malignant neoplasm arising in a patient with known primary malignancy. SPM is common and can occur synchronously or metachronously. Methods: We retrospectively studied the epidemiological factors, patterns of occurrence and common associations of SPMs seen in our Department of Pathology during the period January 2016 and December 2020. The case details were retrieved from the medical records. SPM were diagnosed as per the International Association of Cancer Registries and International Agency for Research on Cancer criteria. Results: During the study period, 22 cases were seen. Their age ranged from 36 to 80 years; females had outnumbered males (female:male = 3.4:1). The most common site for metachronous primary was breast and the most common site for SPMs was head and neck. The median age for diagnosis of metachronous SPM was 59.2 years (range 41–80 years). The time interval for development of metachronous SPMs ranged from 6 months to 9 years. Conclusions: Our observations suggest that increased awareness regarding the entity and regular follow-up of patients can aid in early diagnosis of SPMs.

Keywords

• dual malignancy
• metachronous
• second primary malignancy
• synchronous