ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Many previously published articles have reported poor outcomes for young patients with colorectal cancer as compared to that of older patients with colorectal cancer. However, these studies have tended to be small and have various biases. This study was retrospectively designed to determine the clinical course and survival rate of young patient with colorectal cancer. METHODS: All the patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer at Hanyang University Hospital between 1995 and 2001 were identified. These patients were assigned to two age groups: the 45 years old and below 45 years old group (123 patients) and the group over the age of 45 (421 patients). RESULTS: The size of the tumor mass was significantly larger in the young group. There were no significant differences between the two groups for the stage at the time of diagnosis, the differentiation, the degree of lymph node involvement, the cancer location and the gross finding. The median cancer specific survival time was worse for the old group as compared with that of the young group. Age, differentiation, lymph node involvement and the Duke stage were the significant prognostic factors on univariate analysis. Age and the Duke stage were the independent prognostic factors that were significantly correlated with survival on the multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazard model. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to prior reports, younger patients with colorectal cancer appear to have a better survival rate than that of older patients with colorectal cancer.