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Poor prognosis of young patients with colorectal cancer: a retrospective study

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International Journal of Colorectal Disease Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The present study aimed to explore the survival outcomes of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) aged 35 years and younger.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study included a total of 995 patients with CRC treated between January 2003 and September 2011. The patients were assorted into the young (aged 18–35 years) and older (aged 36–75 years) groups. The clinical characteristics and survival outcomes of the patients in the young group were compared with those of the patients in the older group for evaluation.

Results

Compared with the older group, a significantly higher number of patients in the young group had right-sided colon cancer (30.9 vs. 19.6%, P = 0.026), high histologic grade tumor (14.7 vs. 6.4%, P = 0.021), and stage III disease (50.0 vs. 35.5%, P = 0.016). In stage III disease, compared with the older group, the patients in the young group had worse survival outcome in terms of 5-year overall survival (OS, P = 0.007), cancer-specific survival (CSS, P = 0.010), and disease-free survival (DFS, P = 0.039). Multivariate analysis revealed that age ≤35 years was an independent risk factor in terms of 5-year OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12–2.54; P = 0.012), CSS (HR = 1.74; 95% CI: 1.15–2.65; P = 0.009), and DFS (HR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.06–2.35; P = 0.024).

Conclusions

The young patients with CRC aged 35 years and younger had worse prognosis compared with older patients, especially for stage III disease.

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Acknowledgements

Feng Bao, Liying Zhao, and Guoxin Li designed the research; Feng Bao and Liying Zhao acquired the data of the work, analyzed the data, and drafted the paper; Hao Liu and Guoxin Li revised the paper; and Guoxin Li finally approved the version.

The study was supported by the National Key Clinical Specialty Construction Project of China, the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2012AA021103), and the Research Fund of Public Welfare in Health Industry (No. 201502039), National Health and Family Planning Commission of China.

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  1. Liying Zhao and Feng Bao contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People’s Republic of China

    Liying Zhao, Feng Bao, Jun Yan, Hao Liu, Tingting Li, Hao Chen & Guoxin Li

  2. Department of General Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, Mianyang, People’s Republic of China

    Feng Bao

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  1. Liying Zhao
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Correspondence to Guoxin Li.

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Zhao, L., Bao, F., Yan, J. et al. Poor prognosis of young patients with colorectal cancer: a retrospective study. Int J Colorectal Dis 32, 1147–1156 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-017-2809-5

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