Published online Nov 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i32.9804
Peer-review started: June 21, 2021
First decision: July 18, 2021
Revised: August 15, 2021
Accepted: September 22, 2021
Article in press: September 22, 2021
Published online: November 16, 2021
The incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) has been increasing worldwide. Determining the population at-risk for early-onset CRC, who will most benefit from screening, is important.
The reports of clinical characteristics as well as potential risk factors associated with early-onset CRC, especially in developing countries, are still lacking.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, demographics, clinicopathologic features, and associated factors of young-onset CRC patients in a tertiary hospital in Indonesia.
In this study, patients who underwent colonoscopy examination between 2008 and 2019 and were diagnosed with CRC based on histopathological findings were iden
Among the total 495 patients assessed, 205 (41.4%) were classified as early-onset CRC. Most subjects in the early-onset age group were male (53.7%), had adenocarcinoma histopathology (89.8%), and presented with left-sided tumors (78%). Abdominal pain was the most frequent symptom in the early-onset age group (55.6%), a significantly higher proportion than that in late-onset age group (43.8%, P < 0.05). Early-onset CRC cases were more likely to be underweight compared to late-onset CRC cases (34.6% vs 20.0%, P < 0.001). The proportion of subjects suspected with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) was also higher in the early-onset age group than in the late-onset age group (9.3% vs 4.1%, P < 0.05).
Most patients with early-onset CRC were male, had left-sided tumors, and histopathologically displayed adenocarcinoma. A higher proportion of early-onset CRC cases presented with abdominal pain. The early-onset CRC patients were more likely to be underweight and suspected of having HNPCC compared with the late-onset CRC patients.
Further multicenter research involving a larger sample size is required to better assess the clinical demographics of early-onset CRC patients and the potential risk factors associated with early-onset CRC; these data will help to redefine the most appropriate cutoff age and the populations at-risk for CRC who will most benefit from screening.