ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION:

Colorectal cancerisstill a major cause of cancer-related deaths in developed countries.The incidence has increased rapidly in developing countries by adopting western-style diet. In Turkey, it has been reported that the incidences of gastrointestinal cancers are higher in Black Sea and Eastern Anatolia Region across the country. The purpose of this study is to summarize the distribution of colorectal cancer according to age, gender, tumor stage, tumor localization, and complaints prior to diagnosis in North-Eastern Anatolia Region.

METHODS:

In this study, 2750 patients who were performed colonoscopy n Kafkas University Medical Faculty, Igd›r, Ardahan and Sar›kam›s State Hospital Surgical Endoscopy Units between January 2008 and December 2013were analyzed retrospectively. A hundred twentyfour patients who were diagnosed with biopsy were examined on the basis of age, gender, tumor location, tumor stage, and complaints prior to the diagnosis.

RESULTS:

The incidence of colorectal cancer was found to be 4.5%. In the study group, age ranged from 33 to 88 years (mean, 62.20±10.97 years) with 54% men, and 75% and 54.8% were younger than70 and 65 years respectively.Gender distribution ratio (male/female) was 1.2. Upon the examination of the study group according toage, the colorectal cancerwas most frequentlydiagnosed in 60-69 years (33.1%), and less frequently in 30-39 years (1.6%). The most frequent compliance prior to diagnosis was rectal bleeding (70.2%). Rectal bleeding in the rectum and sigmoid colon tumors is higher than in other locations statistics. Tumor localization was observed, with a maximum rate of 54.1% in the sigmoid colon. Rectal placementwas at second position with a rate of 23.4%. Rectum, sigmoid, and transverse colon localizations were observed in a higher rate in men than women.Most of the cases (76.6%)were diagnosed in stage 3 and 4.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:

Our results were different from the reported results by the age and gender distribution and the earlystage tumors were found to be at significantly lower rates in North-Eastern Anatolia Region. The results obtained from this study, the importance of early diagnosis and screening tests for colorectal cancer in the region covered preventive health services showed that more attention should be. In addition, these types of studies done at regular intervals, wil lprovide information on regional characteristics and changes of colorectal cancer.