COLORECTAL CANCER IN SAUDI POPULATION;

ARE THERE ANY ISSUES RELATED TO GENDER?

Abstract

Background: The aim of study was to investigate differences in
clinicopathological (CPC) features of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients between both genders.
Setting and Design: We did a retrospective chart review of CRC patients confirmed by
histopathology. Materials and Methods: 414 patients were included in study from King AbdulAziz
medical city Jeddah. Charts of patients were reviewed; data was analyzed on SPSS version
20. Results: Majority of patients were males (58.7%) who were slightly older than females (mean
age 57.7 versus 54.6 years) (p value 0.033). The most common age group was fifty to eighty years
in both genders (64% patients). Abdominal pain was reported more in females (57% vs. 41.5% p
value 0.002) while there was no difference in reporting bleeding per rectum between both
genders (50.2% vs. 49.3% p value 0.953). History of diabetes mellitus (DM), smoking and colonic
polyps) was more common in males (67 versus 34 patients), (21 versus 3 patients) and (10 versus
1 patient respectively. Patients presenting with acute surgical abdominal complications were less
than 20%. Only 33 (19.2%) of females received preoperative chemotherapy vs. 80 (33%) of males
(p value 0.001). There was no significant gender differences regarding site, histopathology grade
and surgical treatment received. Conclusions: There are important gender differences in CPC
features of CRC patients in our population. Female patients tend to be slightly younger than
males and there is less association with smoking, DM and previous colonic polyps. Abdominal
pain was the most common presenting symptom among females. Both genders presented at
similar stage of disease. These observations should be taken in consideration in making
colorectal screening guidelines and public awareness programs.