Epidemiological Study of Colorectal Cancer at Ekbatan and Besat Hospitals of Hamadan during Ten Years (1998-2008)

Introduction & Colorectal carcinoma is the second most common cause of cancer death in United States. In Islamic Republic of Iran, the incidence rate of colorectal carcinoma is third among men and fourth among women. Based on performed studies, the epidemiology of colorectal carcinoma differs in various regions. Present study has been performed during a 10 years period for assessing epidemiologic features of colorectal carcinoma at Ekbatan and Besat hospitals of Hamedan Iran. In this retrograde descriptive study, the dossiers of 167 patients with colorectal carcinoma, who had referred to Ekbatan and Beasat hospitals during years 1998 to 2008 were assessed. Acquired data were analyzed statistically with the SPSS 17, and T-test and Chi-square test were used whenever was necessary. The mean age of patients was 58.67 ± 14.31 years (14-87 years). 12% of patients belonged to the group younger than 40 years. The majority of patients under our study were male (52.1%). There was no significant age difference between the two sexes (P = 0.939). The most common locations of tumor were rectum, sigmoid colon and ascending colon with the frequency of 31.1%, 20.4% and 18.6% respectively. The most common reported pathology was adenocarcinoma (96.4%). Most of the patients were in the second stage of disease (39.5%). 30.5% of patients were consuming cigarette. Rectal bleeding was the most common the symptom presented by patients (22%). The mean duration between the appearance of symptoms and diagnosis of the disease was 4.13±3.54 months. This duration was significantly shorter in women than men (P=0.008). The most common symptom presented by patients with colorectal carcinoma was rectal bleeding and the most common carcinoma was adenocarcinoma. Performing prospective studies with attention to risk factors of the disease can help decreasing the incidence of this disease.