The value of adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II/III colorectal signet ring cell carcinoma

This study aimed to assess the benefit of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II–III colorectal signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC). Qualified postoperative patients were extracted from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database from 2004 until 2015. We collected 1675 patients in the research, and 936 patients were subjected to adjuvant chemotherapy group. The proportions of married status, male, rectal cancer, grade III/IV, AJCC stage III and radiotherapy were higher; While, the rates of white race, ≥ 65 years old and located in cecum–transverse colon were lower in patients of chemotherapy group compared to no chemotherapy group (all P < 0.05). K-M plots revealed significantly better OS of adjuvant chemotherapy group than no chemotherapy group (P < 0.001). Meanwhile, there was no significantly different in CSS between the two groups (P = 0.93). However, after adjusting for confounding factors by multivariable Cox regression analysis, receipt of postoperative chemotherapy was still associated with better CSS and OS (CSS: hazard ratio [HR] = 0.719, 95% CI 0.612–0.844, P < 0.001) ; (OS: HR = 0.618, 95% CI 0.537–0.713, P < 0.001). Patients with stage II/III colorectal SRCC could receive survival benefit from postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.