Age-associated prognosis following curative resection for colorectal cancer.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study is to determine the age-associated prognosis in patients who underwent curative resection for colorectal cancer.


METHODS
Between 1993 and 1999, a total of 136 patients underwent curative surgical procedures for colorectal cancer. The study population was divided into three groups according to the age of the patients. Group A: patients younger than 45 years, group B: patients between 45 and 75 years and group C: patients older than 75 years. Tumour location, Dukes' staging, tumour differentiation and five-year survival were evaluated.


RESULTS
There was no significant association between age and tumour staging or tumour differentiation (p=0.990, p=0.753 and p=0.308, respectively). The overall survival at 5 years was 85.7% for the young patients, 77.5% for the middle-aged patients and 62.5% for the elderly patients.


CONCLUSIONS
This aged-grouped study indicates that prognosis is comparable between younger and middle-aged patients whereas in elderly patients it is worsening but not statistically significantly.
Demetriades
H
H
4th Surgical Department, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Kanellos
I
I
Vasiliadis
K
K
Angelopoulos
S
S
Vergos
O
O
Kanellos
D
D
Betsis
D
D
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003082:Colectomy / Q000379:methods*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome