Characteristics of Colorectal Cancer in Khorramabad, Iran during 2013

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer is a common, deadly disease with different incidence rates in different parts of the world. The present study aims to investigate the clinical presentations, colonoscopic findings, and family history of colorectal cancer in the city of Khorramabad, Iran. METHODS This cross-sectional study, conducted in 2013, included 112 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer by colonoscopy with pathological confirmation in addition to 112 individuals matched with patients for age and gender. Controls were chosen from the outpatients admitted to the Skin and Eye Clinics of ShohadaAshayer Hospital in Khorramabad who had no gastrointestinal diseases. A self-generated questionnaire was used to assess family history of smoking and gastrointestinal cancer history in immediate relatives of subjects from both groups. Fisher’s exact test and odds ratios (OR) were used to analyze the data. RESULTS Based on the findings of this study, the most common clinical presentation in the patients was abdominal pain (67.9%). The sigmoid colon (40%) was the most common anatomical site of the tumor in men; the rectum (34.6%) and sigmoid colon (34.6%) were the most common sites in women, which was not statistically significant (p=0.21). There were 11 (19.6%) patients and 2 (3.6%) individuals in the control group who reported a history of colorectal cancer in their immediate relatives, which was statistically significant (p=0.008). CONCLUSION In this study, left-sided colon cancer was more common. Subjects with colon cancer had more positive FHx. This indicated that genetic factors, in addition to environmental factors, could increase the incidence of colorectal cancer in a community. A better identification of these factors would result in better control and management of this disease.