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Colon cancer may be a different disease in older patients
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For patients with colon cancer, older age was linked to changes in clinical and pathologic characteristics and poorer survival, according to researchers at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
To obtain data for this study, Supriya S. Patel, MD, and colleagues used the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance Program, a population-based cancer registry that includes data on patient demographics, tumor characteristics, staging, treatment modalities (chemotherapy and surgery) and follow-up care.
The researchers identified 32,819 patients who were diagnosed with colon cancer between 1988 and 2006. They stratified these patients into four age groups: 18 to 49 years, 50 to 64 years, 65 to 79 years and older than 80 years.
Supriya and colleagues compared clinical and pathologic characteristics as well as disease-specific survival and OS between patients from the different age groups. Patients in the 18- to 49-year age group represented the smallest group, and patients aged 65 to 79 comprised the largest group.
The number of men and women diagnosed with colon cancer in the three youngest age groups was nearly equal, whereas the patients diagnosed most often in the oldest age group were women.
Tumor location differed among the age groups. Patients in the two youngest age groups most often presented with descending tumors while patients in the oldest group usually presented with ascending tumors. The patients aged 18 to 49 years were the most likely to have large tumors (>5 cm).
There was an obvious correlation between decreased chemotherapy administration and advanced age. Fifty percent of the patients in the youngest age group underwent chemotherapy compared with 8% in the oldest group.
“In summary, our study demonstrates that colon cancer may be a different disease in older patients,” the researchers wrote. “It is a disease with a different phenotype and pattern of management, dependent on the age of the patient.”
Reference:
Patel SP. Cancer. 2012;doi:10.1002/cncr.27753.