Open AccessObjective: This work was conducted to study colorectal carcinoma (CRC) in Gharbiah district, Egypt and to verify the effect of age on the treatments and their outcomes.
Methods: Between 2000 and 2002, 293 cases with CRC were identified in the Gharbiah population based cancer registry (GPBCR); 159 of whom were treated at Tanta Cancer Center (TCC). Patients were grouped into elderly and non-elderly (≥ and < 65 years, respectively).
Results: CRC was the 6th cancer in Egypt, representing 4% of the total cancers and 53% of GIT cancers. The median age was 53 years with male predominance. Colon cancers were more common than rectal cancers. Most patients had tumors that were localized, low grade and adenocarcinoma (AC). Constipation, abdominal pains and bleeding per rectum were the commonest complaints. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy were adopted in 84, 28 and 72% of patients, respectively. The median OS and PFS were 23 and 25 months (95%CI: 17-29 and 11.8-18.2), respectively. Compared to non-elderly, elderly patients were more likely to have rectal tumors, non-AC histology, non-metastatic disease; more comorbidities were less likely to receive chemotherapy particularly in the adjuvant setting (P< 0.05 for all). The OS and PFS of elderly patients were not statistically different from the non-elderly.
Conclusions: Within the limits of this retrospective trial, elderly patients with CRC tend to have more rectal and non-metastatic cancers. They were more likely to have comorbidities and less likely to receive chemotherapy. However, the OS and DFS were comparable to non-elderly.