Pattern of colorectal cancer at two hospitals in the western region of Saudi Arabia.

Patients And Methods: Data of all patients with CRC treated at two hospitals in the Western region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), between 1993 and 2002, were collected and analyzed.

Results: Out of the 121 patients evaluated, ten were excluded because of incomplete data. Out of 111 patients, 59 (53.2%) were males, with a male to female ratio of 1.13: 1 and 49 (44.1 %) were Saudis. Thirty-three patients (29.7%) were 40 years or less and 78 (70.3%) were more than 40 years. Colon cancer was found in 69 patients (62.2%) and rectal cancer in 42 (37.8%). Stages at presentation were; stage 0 (2.7%), stage I (11.7%), stage II (23.4%), stage III (20.7%), stage IV (22.5%) and the staging was unknown in 18.9% of the patients. The most common tumor grade was moderately differentiated (38.7%), followed by poorly differentiated (20.7%) and well differentiated 19.8% of the patients. Forty-four patients (39.6%) were alive at the time of data collection, 43 (38.7%) expired and 24 (21.6%) were lost to follow up. Correlation between age groups revealed that young patients had more advanced stage and poorly differentiated tumors than > 40 years old (p= 0.005 and 0.024 respectively).

Conclusion: Compared to data from Western countries, colorectal cancer in this population is more common in younger patients. It presents more commonly in a more advanced stage and poorly differentiated type than in older patients.