Mean age of patients with CRC getting younger
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The mean age of patients with colorectal cancer has dropped in recent years, with a higher proportion of patients aged 40 to 50 years, according to research presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting.
In his presentation, Will Aurand, DO, of Wright State University, said that new evidence has led to different screening guidelines among certain populations.
“With this prior research as our guide, we aimed to do a study to look at the trends of average age of patients with colorectal cancer, as well as examine demographic differences among these patients,” he said.
Researchers used data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey and National Hospital/Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to examine the demographics of patients with CRC in the United States between 2001 and 2015. Investigators compared trends for age, sex, race and region for more than 19,000 patients with CRC.
From 2001 to 2005, 10,819 patients were diagnosed with CRC. Between 2006 and 2010, 7,870 patients received a CRC diagnosis, and 525 were diagnosed between 2011 and 2015. Researchers found that 1,762 were aged between 40 and 50 years, while 16,958 were older than age 50 years.
In their analysis, Aurand and colleagues found that the mean age of CRC diagnosis decreased linearly from 68.78 years in 2001 to 2005, to 67.55 years in 2006 to 2010, and finally to 64.05 years in 2011 to 2015 (P < .001). Meanwhile, the proportion of patients between ages 40 and 50 years increased for the three time periods, from 8.7%, to 10.2%, and to 11.95%, respectively (P < .001).
Additionally, researchers found that the age 40 years to 50 years group had a higher proportion of men, a higher proportion of African Americans and a lower proportion of Caucasians. Patients in the younger group were also more likely to be from the South and less likely to be from the Midwest.
“We believe these observations lend further justification to consider adjustment and individualization in colorectal cancer screening guidelines,” Aurand said.
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Mossad D, et al. Abstract S0269. Presented at: The American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting (Virtual). Oct. 26-28, 2020.
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