Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jan 21:6:26-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2016.01.018. eCollection 2016 Mar.

Colorectal cancer survival in Jamaica

Joseph M Plummer  1 , Pierre-Anthony Leake  1 , Doreen Ferron-Boothe  1 , Patrick O Roberts  1 , Derek I Mitchell  1 , Michael E McFarlane  1
Affiliations

Colorectal cancer survival in Jamaica

Joseph M Plummer et al. Ann Med Surg (Lond). .

Abstract

Objective: To determine the intermediate and long-term survival of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) and to determine factors that affect survival.

Method: Patients were identified from a prospectively maintained colonoscopy database. All patients who underwent colonoscopy during the period January 2008 to December 2012 and had histologically confirmed invasive carcinoma were included. These patients were contacted at the end of 2013 to determine their survival status. In addition to demographics, variables analyzed included presenting complaint and tumor site and stage at presentation.

Results: Of 1757 patients being subjected to colonoscopy, 118 had endoscopic and histologic documentation of invasive CRC. Of these the survival status of 102 was determined as of December 2013 and they formed the basis of our study. The mean age of the group was 62 years with approximately 20% of the group being age 50 years or younger. Females (54%) slightly outnumbered males. Anemia or overt rectal bleeding was a dominant indication (44%) and 65% of the tumours were left sided. There were 58 (57%) deaths and the median overall survival time was two years post diagnosis. Log rank tests for equality of survivorship looking at age, gender, tumor site and presentation revealed that only presenting complaint was a predictor of survivorship (p < 0.001). Patients presenting with bleeding or anemia have the best survival.

Conclusions: Long-term survival from colorectal cancer remains poor with only about 33% of patients being alive five years after their diagnosis.

Keywords: CRC survival; Jamaica; Poor outcome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kaplan–Meier survival estimate for entire sample.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a: Kaplan_Meier survival estimate for stage of cancer at diagnosis. b: Kaplan_Meier survival estimate for presenting complaint.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gibson T.N., Blake G., Hanchard B. Age-Specific Incidence of Cancer in Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica, 1998-2002. West Indian Med. J. 2008;57:81–89. - PubMed
    1. Siegel R., Naishadham D., Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2012. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2012;62:10–29. - PubMed
    1. Levin B., Lieberman D.A., McFarland B. Screening and surveillance for the early detection of colorectal cancer and adenomatous polyps, 2008: a joint guideline from the American Cancer Society, the US Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer, and the American College of Radiology. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2008;58:130–160. - PubMed
    1. Iversen L.H. Aspects of survival from colorectal cancer in Denmark. Dan. Med. J. 2012 Apr;59(4):B4428. - PubMed
    1. Lee M.G. Colon cancer screening. West Indian Med. J. 2006;55:365. - PubMed