title: Poor prognosis of young patients with colorectal cancer: a retrospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study aimed to explore the survival outcomes of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) aged 35 years and younger.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective cohort study included a total of 995 patients with CRC treated between January 2003 and September 2011. The patients were assorted into the young (aged 18-35 years) and older (aged 36-75 years) groups. The clinical characteristics and survival outcomes of the patients in the young group were compared with those of the patients in the older group for evaluation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the older group, a significantly higher number of patients in the young group had right-sided colon cancer (30.9 vs. 19.6%, P = 0.026), high histologic grade tumor (14.7 vs. 6.4%, P = 0.021), and stage III disease (50.0 vs. 35.5%, P = 0.016). In stage III disease, compared with the older group, the patients in the young group had worse survival outcome in terms of 5-year overall survival (OS, P = 0.007), cancer-specific survival (CSS, P = 0.010), and disease-free survival (DFS, P = 0.039). Multivariate analysis revealed that age ≤35 years was an independent risk factor in terms of 5-year OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12-2.54; P = 0.012), CSS (HR = 1.74; 95% CI: 1.15-2.65; P = 0.009), and DFS (HR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.06-2.35; P = 0.024).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The young patients with CRC aged 35 years and younger had worse prognosis compared with older patients, especially for stage III disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Liying
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People's Republic of China.|Department of General Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital, Mianyang, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People's Republic of China. gzliguoxin@163.com.
authors.forename: Guoxin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Clinicopathological feature; Colorectal cancer; Prognosis; Radical surgery; Young