Serum ferritin and the risk of early-onset colorectal cancer

Table 1 Demographics and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with early-onset colorectal cancer, n (%)

	Females (n = 48, 56.5%)	Males (n = 37, 43.5%)	Total (n = 85)
Demographic characteristics
Age (years, mean ± SD)	39.8 ± 4.9	41.5 ± 5.2	40.5 ± 5.1
Serum ferritin level
≤ 20 ng/mL	24 (50.0)	15 (40.5)	39 (45.9)
21-45 ng/mL	11 (22.9)	4 (10.8)	15 (17.6)
46-100 ng/mL	6 (12.5)	5 (13.5)	11 (12.9)
≥ 101 ng/mL	7 (14.6)	13 (35.1)	20 (23.5)
AJCC stage1
I	4 (8.3)	1 (2.7)	5 (6.0)
II	3 (6.3)	6 (16.2)	9 (10.7)
III	19 (39.6)	9 (24.3)	28 (33.3)
IV	21 (43.8)	21 (56.8)	42 (50.0)
Characteristics at diagnosis
Anemia	39 (81.3)	31 (83.8)	70 (82.4)
MCV < 80 fL	20 (41.7)	21 (56.8)	41 (48.2)
MCV >100 fL	2 (4.2)	1 (2.7)	3 (3.5)
Ferritin obtained before	9 (18.8)	5 (13.5)	14 (16.5)
Ferritin obtained at diagnosis	18 (37.5)	16 (43.2)	34 (40.0)
Ferritin obtained after	21 (43.8)	16 (43.2)	37 (43.5)

¹Stage was unknown in one patient, as they decided to opt out of further workup.

AJCC: American Joint Committee on Cancer; MCV: Mean corpuscular volume.