Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Mar 27, 2016; 8(3): 252-265
Published online Mar 27, 2016. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v8.i3.252
Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the rectum: An update and implications for treatment
Glen R Guerra, Cherng H Kong, Satish K Warrier, Andrew C Lynch, Alexander G Heriot, Samuel Y Ngan
Glen R Guerra, Cherng H Kong, Satish K Warrier, Andrew C Lynch, Alexander G Heriot, Division of Cancer Surgery, Sir Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, University of Melbourne, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia
Samuel Y Ngan, Division of Radiation Oncology, Sir Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, University of Melbourne, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia
Author contributions: Guerra GR prepared the manuscript with all co-authors contributing to the drafting and revision process; including review of the final version, with which they are in agreement of its content.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data is available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Glen R Guerra, MBBS, FRACS, Colorectal Research Fellow, Division of Cancer Surgery, Sir Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, University of Melbourne, St Andrews Place, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia. glenguerra@gmail.com
Telephone: +61-3-96561111 Fax: +61-3-96548457
Received: June 29, 2015
Peer-review started: July 2, 2015
First decision: August 25, 2015
Revised: December 24, 2015
Accepted: January 21, 2016
Article in press: January 22, 2016
Published online: March 27, 2016
Processing time: 265 Days and 10.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Primary squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the rectum is a rare entity with a historically poor prognosis. This systematic review provides an in depth summary of the current body of knowledge surrounding the aetiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, staging and prognosis of this disease. Given the current paradigm shift in the first line treatment of rectal SCC away from traditional surgical management towards definitive chemoradiotherapy, the evidence supporting this change is examined.