RESUMEN
To determine the basic clinical information of colorectal cancer in Thailand, the authors retrospectively reviewed the medical records and pathological reports of 293 patients with histologically proven colonic cancer but only 137 patients met the inclusion criteria in King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital during the three-year period from July 1997 to June 2000. There were 72 males (53%) and 65 females (47%) with an age ranging from 24 to 90 years (mean age 61.2 years). Among these, 115 patients (83.9%) were older than 50 years. Bowel-habit change, weight loss and mucous bloody diarrhea were the most common presentations respectively. Distal colorectal cancer is the most common site of colonic cancer (71.3%) and 28.7 per cent were at the proximal colon. Dukes' D (35%) was the most common colorectal cancer staging in the hospital. Considering the sites of metastases, liver was the most common site of metastases (61%). The most common cell type was moderately-differentiated adenocarcinoma. Low anterior resection was the most common surgical procedure (24.9%) since the tumor was usually located distally. In conclusion, 1) bowel habit change was the most common presentation for colorectal cancer at the hospital and the majority of patients were elderly. 2) Colorectal cancer was usually found at the late stage which was associated with poor prognosis.