Increased incidence of young age presentation of colorectal carcinoma: A tertiary cancer hospital study

Background: Colorectal cancer is relatively uncommon malignancy in India when compared with the Western world, disease affecting individuals above 40 years of age and is rare below 40 years of age. However, now there is an increase in young age presentation globally and India. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of all colorectal carcinomas colorectal cancer (CRC) that were diagnosed during the past 6 years, i.e., from January 2011 to December 2016. Patients were divided into two groups - below 40 years and above 40 years. The records were analyzed in detail for age, gender, site of primary tumor, and histopathological type. The results of the two groups were compared and in turn compared with population-based cancer registry (PBCR) of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru. Results: Two hundred and twenty-three patients were diagnosed to have CRC. Patients diagnosed below 40 years of age comprised 39.5% (88) compared with PBCR of Delhi (19.75%, P value significant at <0.05), Mumbai (10.9%), P value significant at <0.05), Kolkata (13.1%, P value significant at <0.05), Chennai (8.6%, P value significant at <0.05), and Bengaluru (13.6%, P value significant at <0.05). Among patients below 40 years of age, majority were males (56.8%), most occurred in the rectum (75%). Poorly differentiated, mucin-secreting, signet ring type adenocarcinomas are most frequent (35.2%) and presented at advanced stage (33%). This was similar to those reported in other literatures. Conclusions: Study shows that there is a rise in younger age presentation in our institution with rectal site predominance, advanced stage, and poor histopathological variants.