title: Patterns of Sociodemographic and Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Stages II and III Colorectal Cancer Patients by Age: Examining Potential Mechanisms of Young-Onset Disease.
abstract: Background and Aims.As a first step toward understanding the increasing incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) in younger (age < 50) populations, we examined demographic, clinicopathologic, and socioeconomic characteristics and treatment receipt in a population-based sample of patients newly diagnosed with stages II and III CRC.Methods.Patients were sampled from the National Cancer Institute's Patterns of Care studies in 1990/91, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 (n= 6, 862). Tumor characteristics and treatment data were obtained through medical record review and physician verification. We compared sociodemographic and clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment patterns of younger (age < 50) and older (age 50-69, age ≥ 70) CRC patients.Results.Younger patients were more likely to be black (13%) and Hispanic (15%) than patients aged 50-69 years (11% and 10%, resp.) and ≥70 years (7% each). A larger proportion of young white (41%) and Hispanic (33%) patients had rectal tumors, whereas tumors in the right colon were the most common in young black patients (39%). The majority of younger patients received chemotherapy and radiation therapy, although receipt of microsatellite instability testing was suboptimal (27%).Conclusion.Characteristics of patients diagnosed with young-onset CRC differ considerably by race/ethnicity, with a higher proportion of black and Hispanic patients diagnosed at the age of < 50 years.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA; Department of Epidemiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Caitlin C
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9365-0691
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Hanna K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Sanoff
authors.affiliation: Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Karyn B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Stitzenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Baron
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lund
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Sandler