This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Incidence Increasing
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
PHILADELPHIA — While the annual rate of colorectal cancer incidence in patients over age 50 years has been steadily declining over the last decade, young-onset colorectal cancer has been increasing, according to data presented at the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting.
“The incidence of CRC increases with aging; there is about 85% to 90% of diagnoses occurring in individuals aged over 50, so CRC has been considered as a disease of old age,” Xi E. Zheng, MD, Weill Cornell Medical College, said in a presentation. However, “CRC affects the younger population at an alarmingly rising rate in contrast to steady decline for [individuals] aged over 50,” she said.
Xi E. Zheng
Zheng and colleagues used SEER registry data to compare incidence and characteristics of young-onset (n=39,787) and old-onset (n=330,009) CRC from 2000-2011. During that period, new cases of young-onset CRC had a 1.4% increased annual rate compared with a 3.1% decreased annual rate in old-onset CRC. Distant disease increased by 3% annually in young-onset patients compared with a 1% annual increase in localized or regional disease. Young-onset CRC was more likely to occur in males (OR=1.13; 95% CI, 1.11-1.16); and compared with whites, blacks and Hispanics had a 1.6-fold (95% CI, 1.57-1.67) and 2.1-fold (95% CI, 2.07-2.21) increased risk for young-onset CRC, respectively. Young-onset CRC had higher rates of presenting at advanced stage, higher grade and in left-sided colon or rectum, and compared with old-onset CRC, had more frequent diagnosis of signet ring cell carcinoma (2% vs. 1%) and mucinous adenocarcinoma (9% vs. 8%). Finally, young-onset CRC had larger tumors, and higher rates of lymph node positivity, perineural invasion and positive surgical margin (all P<.001).
“CRC incidence in patients younger than age 50 has risen alarmingly in the last decade in the United States, primarily due to distant disease,” Zheng concluded. “There is a need for studies on efficient screening methods and adequate knowledge about risk factors for this younger population. Future studies are also needed to better understand the biology of young-onset CRC and to develop screening strategies for this population.”
For more information:
Zheng XE. Abstract 7. Presented at: ACG Annual Scientific Meeting, Oct. 17-22, 2014; Philadelphia, PA.
Disclosure: Relevant financial disclosures were not provided.