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. 2014 Apr;12(2):131-8.
doi: 10.5217/ir.2014.12.2.131. Epub 2014 Apr 29.

Clinicopathological characteristics of colon cancer diagnosed at primary health care institutions

Sang Hyun Park  1 , Chi Wook Song  1 , Yun Bae Kim  1 , Young Sun Kim  1 , Hwang Rae Chun  1 , Jung Hyun Lee  2 , Won Jong Seol  3 , Hyung Sun Yoon  4 , Myung Kwon Lee  5 , Jong Hyup Lee  6 , Choon Sang Bhang  7 , Jae Hyung Park  8 , Ji Young Park  9 , Byung Hun Do  10 , Young Dae Park  11 , Sang Jeong Yoon  12 , Chan Wook Park  13 , Su Mi Yoon  14 , Jong Hwan Choi  15 , Ki Chul Shin  16 , Dong Hoon Ko  17 , Young Jin Kim  18 , Dong Choon Seol  19
Affiliations

Clinicopathological characteristics of colon cancer diagnosed at primary health care institutions

Sang Hyun Park et al. Intest Res. 2014 Apr.

Abstract

Background/aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathologic characteristics of colon cancers detected at the SOK Sokpeynhan Internal Medical Network, a nationwide system of primary health care institutions.

Methods: We analyzed 579 colon cancer patients diagnosed using colonoscopy at the SOK network from January 2011 through December 2012. Cancers from the rectum to the splenic flexure were classified as left colon cancer. Patients over 65 were classified as senior.

Results: The mean age (±SD) of subjects was 60.9±10.5 years and 61.1% were men. More than one quarter (28.2%) of patients were asymptomatic. The prevalence of left colon cancer was higher (77.9%) than that for right colon cancer. The most frequent macroscopic and histologic types were depressed (58.9%) and moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma (52.2%), respectively. Asymptomatic subjects displayed protruding or well differentiated adenocarcinoma, while symptomatic patients were more likely to display depressed or moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma (P<0.05). The mean age of the right colon cancer group was higher than that for the left colon cancer group (P<0.05). Among symptomatic patients, the most frequent symptoms were bloody stool for patients with left colon cancer and abdominal discomfort for patients with right colon cancer (P<0.05). The prevalence of depressed cancer was higher in older subjects as compared to younger subjects (P<0.05). The prevalence of right colon cancer tended to increase with age, although this difference did not achieve statistical significance (P>0.05).

Conclusions: Study results indicated an increase of colon cancer amongst younger demographics in recent years. The effectiveness of colonoscopy screening was also evident, as asymptomatic patients demonstrated frequent findings of well differentiated adenocarcinomas. Study results also suggested a need for closer examination of older patients, as right colon cancer tended to increase with age.

Keywords: Colonic neoplasms; Population characteristics; Primary health care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of 579 colon cancers according to age.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The proportion of right colon cancer of each gender according to age.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The proportion of right colon cancer according to symptom and age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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