Clinicopathological and demographic spectrum of colorectal cancer

Objectives: Data regarding the demography and clinical characteristics of colorectal cancer (CRC) especially in a country as diverse as India, remains incomplete. This study aims to further examine the clinical and pathological features of colorectal cancer in a cancer centre in South India. Material and Methods: All patients undergoing treatment for colorectal cancer in a tertiary cancer centre were included in this study. The patient characteristics were analysed with respect to location, differentiation, staging, and tumour morphology. Results: A total of 831 consecutive patients were enrolled in the study. Rectal cancer was more prevalent than colon cancer (64% vs 36%). The most common tumourhistological subtype was moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma (78.6%). Mucinous and signet ring cell subtypes were the next most commonly encountered, at 11.4% and 7.6% respectively. Fifty eight percent of patients presented in stage III, and 25.5% were stage IV. Females were found to have a higher T stage at diagnosis than males ( p = 0.03). Colon cancers were more likely to be of a mucinous subtype than rectal cancers ( p = 0.000). In addition, colon cancers were more likely to have poor differentiation when compared to their rectal counterparts ( p = 0.012). Conclusions: Our study identifies that by the time of diagnosis, most patients are already at advanced stages compared to those from higher-income countries. In addition, the proportion of patients presenting with aggressive histological characteristics is also higher than that in other higher-income nations.