Colorectal cancer in Egyptian patients under 40 years of age

Int J Cancer. 1997 Mar 28;71(1):26-30. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19970328)71:1<26::aid-ijc6>3.0.co;2-5.

Abstract

Although colorectal cancer is not a common cancer in Egypt, the age distribution of the disease shows that a high proportion occurs in children and adults under 40 years of age. We reviewed the records of 1,608 colorectal cancer patients treated in 4 cancer hospitals in Egypt during a period of 3 to 10 years. The hospitals in which about 85% of all colorectal cancer cases in Egypt were seen included Egypt's 2 major cancer centers, The National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Cairo and Tanta Cancer Center (TCC) in the mid-Nile Delta region, and 2 major university hospitals, Assiut University in South Egypt and Ain Shams University in Cairo. Our review showed that patients younger than 40 years represented 35.6% of all patients in the 4 cancer hospitals, and that these rates were similar among the hospitals and for the years reviewed. The male-to-female ratio increased from 1.0 to 1.7 for the age groups ranging from 0-9 and 30-39 years, and increased from 1.0 to 1.5 for the age groups ranging from 40-49 to over 60 years. More than half of all the patients had rectal tumors, and about 90% of the cancers were adenocarcinomas; 30.6% of patients younger than 40 years, compared with 13.8% of older patients, had mucin-producing tumors. This study confirmed the occurrence of a high colorectal cancer rate in young Egyptians, and it opens the door to future epidemiologic studies to identify causes and risk factors of this disease pattern in Egypt.

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / epidemiology
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / epidemiology*
  • Egypt / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Middle Aged