Z Gastroenterol 2005; 43 - 28
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-869675

No change in location of colorectal cancer between 1993–2004 in Hungarian patients

P Fuszek 1, H Horvath 1, J Papp 1, J Halasz 2, B Jaray 2, E Szekely 2, Z Schaff 2, A Papp 3, A Bursics 3, L Harsanyi 3, P Lukovich 3, P Kupcsulik 3 P Lakatos 1,
  • 11st Department of Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
  • 21st Department of Pathology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
  • 31st Department of Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

The incidence of proximal tumours in Western countries has steadily increased while that of distal tumours has shown a corresponding decrease.

Our aim was to investigate the prevalence, location and histology of colorectal cancers (CRC) in the last decade in Hungarian patients.

Patients and methods: Clinical data of 1738 patients diagnosed with CRC (M/F: 940/798, mean age at diagnosis: 65.2±SD12.5 years) between 1st of January 1993 and 31st of December 2004 at the 1st Internal Medicine and 1st Surgery Department of Semmelweis University were enrolled. Pathology and clinical data were analysed retrospectively.

Results: 1694 (97.5%) of the patients had adenocarcinoma, 15 anaplastic cancers, 9 carcinoid, 6 planocellular, 5 GIST, 3 leiomyoma and 2–2 melanoma, lymphoma and shigillocellular cancers were diagnosed. 76% (967/1273) of the cancers were diagnosed at locally advanced stage (T3-T4), and 47.8% (534/1117) of CRC patients had lymph node metastasis at the time of diagnosis. The location was left sided in 1197 (rectal: 55.3%, sigmoid: 41.3%, descending: 3.4%) and right sided 519 (transverse: 36.9%, ascending and caecum: 63.1%). Synchronous cancers were detected in 12 patients (age: 68.8±11.6 years, gender: 11 male/1 female, location: rectum and transverse in 6, rectum and ascending/caecum in 5 patients). Age at diagnosis was not different according to gender (M/F: 64.8±12.1 years vs. 65.8±12.9 years) or between patients with left or right sided cancers (65.0±12.2 years vs. 66.1±13.0 years). 56.6% of the patients with left sided cancers were males, whereas only 48.6% of patients with right sided CRC (p=0.003). The proportion of left and right sided cancers remained stable over to observed period (1993–1998: left- 68.1% vs. right- 31.9%, 1999–2004: 70.8% vs. 29.1%).

Conclusions: In contrast to Western countries, we did not find a change in location of CRC in Hungary. Still more than two-third of the patients were diagnosed to have distal cancers. The proportion of male patients was higher in this subset of CRC.