Secondary Malignancies: The Cost of Progress

A Descriptive Study of the Types and Survival Patterns of Saudi Patients with Multiple Primary Solid Malignancies: A 30-Year Tertiary Care Center Experience

Background and Objective: Cancer survival has improved significantly, which reflects the achievements in screening, diagnosis, and treatment. As a consequence, multiple primary malignancies are diagnosed more frequently, with an incidence ranging from 0.52–11.7%. The types of malignancy that coexist and survival patterns vary notably in different countries and geographical areas. Due to the limited literature in Saudi Arabia, a baseline of prevalent malignancy combinations and their survival patterns would support early detection and disease management. Method: This was a retrospective descriptive study conducted from 1993–2022 at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Department of Medical Oncology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Patients with at least two biopsy-proven solid malignancies were included. Patients with hematological malignancies, missing data, or an uncertain or indecisive pathology report were excluded. Result: In total, 321 patients were analyzed. More than half (57.3%) of the patients were female. A third (33%) of the cases were synchronous, and 67% were metachronous. The most frequent site of the first primary malignancy was breast cancer, followed by colorectal, skin, and thyroid cancers. The most frequent site of the second primary malignancy was colorectal cancer, followed by thyroid, breast, and liver cancers. Only 4% of the cases had a third primary malignancy, with colorectal and appendiceal cancers being the most frequent. The most frequently observed histopathology in the synchronous and metachronous malignancies was adenocarcinoma. Breast–colorectal, breast–thyroid, and kidney–colorectal were the most frequently observed malignancy combinations. Conclusion: The current study offers a baseline of multiple primary malignancies in Saudi Arabia and provides supporting evidence that the pattern of multiple primary malignancies varies among different countries and ethnicities. The possibility of developing another primary malignancy should be considered when treating and monitoring cancer patients.