title: Histopathological features of colorectal cancer in Al-Madinah region of Saudi Arabia: 8 years experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To determine the histopathological pattern of colorectal cancer (CRC) among Saudi patients with a view to determine various epidemiological and histopathological features of the disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively collected and analyzed the demographic and histopathological data of all the patients with CRC diagnosed at King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia over a period of 8 years from January 2006 to December 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 324 cases of CRC reviewed, 200 cases (61.7%) were males while 124 cases (38.3%) were females giving a male to female ratio of 1.6: 1. Age of the patients ranged from 20 to 100 years with a mean age 57.9 years. The rectosigmoid region was the most frequent anatomical site (13.6%) involved and adenocarcinoma (88.6%) was the most common histopathological type. The majority of adenocarcinomas (87.3%) were moderately differentiated. A total of 47.8% of patients were in stage B and 43.5% of patients were in stage C of the Aster-Coller classification. Most patients (75.7%) presented with large size tumors. Lymphovascular invasion and lymph node metastasis were recorded in 67.9% and 43.6% of cases, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Colorectal cancer is common in our environment and the majority of patients present late with an advanced stage. Screening programs regarding CRC should be enhanced to improve the outcome of the patients.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia E-mail : abdbasri@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Abdulkader
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Albasri
authors.forename: Hala
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yosef
authors.forename: Akbar Shah
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hussainy
authors.forename: Saud Ahmad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sultan
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alhujaily
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult