Young-onset colorectal cancer in the North East of Scotland: survival, clinico- pathological features and genetics

Sarah Perrott* (Corresponding Author), Kirsten Laurie, Kirsten Laws, Annie Johnes, Zosia Miedzybrodzka, Leslie Samuel

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)
5 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) in patients aged under 55 years is on the rise, constituting approximately 10% of cases. Our aim was to determine the survival and clinico-pathological details of young-onset CRC (yCRC), as well as audit the referral rate to genetic services and thus establish the incidence of inherited cancer syndromes.
Methods: A retrospective case note review was conducted for patients aged under 55 years who were diagnosed with CRC between 2005 and 2015 in the North East of Scotland. Cases were identified by pathology records and data was obtained from patient notes. Analysis was performed using SPSS version 25 (IBM, New York, USA) to produce Kaplan-Meier survival estimates, descriptive statistics and markers predictive for genetic referral.
Results: Data from 345 patients (age range 22–54 years) were identified. The one year, five year and overall survival rates were found to be 89, 63 and 55%, respectively. Most patients (61%) presented with advanced disease. Of 201 patients that met criteria for genetic referral, only 93 (46%) were referred to genetic services. Microsatellite instability (MSI) was identified in 14% of those referred.
Conclusion: Survival in yCRC was found to be better than that in later onset disease, despite higher rates of advanced disease. Patients were under-referred to genetic services, where a significant proportion were found to be MSI positive and investigated for Lynch syndrome.
Original languageEnglish
Article number108
Number of pages9
JournalBMC Cancer
Volume20
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Feb 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding
This work was supported by an institutional grant from the University of
Aberdeen Summer Research Scholarship. The role of this grant was to
financially support a medical student researcher from approximately July to
August 2018. The funding body had no implications on the study design,
collection, analysis or interpretation of data. The study was presented in
poster format to the funding body in November 2018 at the University of
Aberdeen Summer Research Symposium.

Availability of data and materials
All data generated during this study are included in this published article.
The datasets used during the current study are available from the
corresponding author on reasonable request.

Keywords

  • Young-onset colorectal cancer, Survival, Clinicopathological characteristics, Genetic referral, Microsatellite instability
  • Survival
  • Clinicopathological characteristics
  • Genetic referral
  • Microsatellite Instability
  • Young-onset colorectal cancer
  • Microsatellite instability
  • FAMILY-HISTORY

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Young-onset colorectal cancer in the North East of Scotland: survival, clinico- pathological features and genetics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this