Abstract :
Introduction: The incidence of colorectal cancers is rising in the young adult population. To understand
its pathogenesis we compared the clinical and pathological characteristics of early and late onset colorectal
cancers.
Materials and Methods: Sixty seven consecutive histopathologically confirmed cases who were
diagnosed at the centre from April 2018 and M arch 2019 were studied. The study subjects were divided
into two age-groups, the early onset group with subjects younger than 45 years and the late onset group
with subjects older than 45 years. The clinico-pathological characteristics of colorectal carcinoma cases
were compared using an analytical cross -sectional design.
Results: Majority of patients in both groups presented with bleeding rectum followed by pain abdomen
and constipation. Weight loss was significantly higher among early onset group(p value significantly higher proportion of subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus were observed in the late onset
group (p value = 0.008). A predominance of distal colon and rectal site cancers were seen in both groups.
Early onset patients had a significantly higher frequency of mucinous tumours (p=0.018). A statistically
significant difference was observed between the two groups in the stage wise comparison with majority of
early onset subjects presenting in Stage I and II (p value=0.015). Analysis of CEA and Heamoglobin levels
also revealed key distinctions.
Conclusion: This study emphasizes the existence of some salient differences between early and late
onset colorectal carcinomas with regard to the clinicopathological profile. Further studies are warranted
to uncover the molecular features of early onset colorectal cancer.
Keyword :
Early onset colorectal cancer, Pathological profile, Kerala.