Young-age onset of colorectal cancer in Israel

Aim: The study was conducted to investigate the differences in clinical-pathological, ethnic, and demographic presentations and the expression of mismatch repair proteins in a cohort of young-onset (≤50 years) versus late-onset Israeli patients (>50 years) with colorectal cancer. Materials and methods: Clinical, demographic, and histopathological data of patients with colorectal cancer were collected retrospectively from medical records and pathology reports. Results: Ninety patients, 50 years of age or younger with a mean age of 42 years were compared with a group of 190 patients above 50 years of 50 (see Table 1). Sixty percent of the young-onset patients were females, compared to 40% in the older age group (P = 0.02). Twenty-one percent of the young-onset patients were Arabs as compared to 2% of older-onset patients (P = 0.001). Younger patients displayed a higher percentage of mucinous cancers and a higher percentage of diagnosis at an advanced stage of disease; 40% of young-onset versus 31% of older-onset patients presented Duke's stages C and D (P = 0.02). Conclusions: Younger age of onset colorectal cancer in our cohort of Israeli patients is associated with higher percentage of Arab patients, mucinous cancers, female gender, and advanced stage at diagnosis.