Rectal cancer in the young patient

The purpose of this national study was to evaluate the results of treatment for young rectal cancer patients.

This prospective study from the Norwegian Rectal Cancer Project includes all 2,283 patients younger than aged 70 years with adenocarcinoma of the rectum from November 1993 to December 1999. Patients younger than aged 40 years (n = 45), 40 to 44 years (n = 87), 45 to 49 years (n = 153), and 50 to 69 years (n = 1998) were compared for patient and tumor characteristics and five-year overall survival. Patients treated for cure (n = 1,354) were evaluated for local recurrence, distant metastasis, and disease-free survival.

Patients younger than aged 40 years had significantly higher frequencies of poorly differentiated tumors (27 vs. 12-16 percent; P = 0.014), N2-stage (37 vs. 13-18 percent; P = 0.001), and distant metastases (38 vs. 19-24 percent; P = 0.019) compared with older patients. Among those treated for cure, 56 percent of the patients younger than aged 40 years developed distant metastases compared with 20 to 26 percent of the older patients (P = 0.003). Overall five-year survival was 54 percent for patients younger than aged 40 years compared with 71 to 88 percent for the older patients (P = 0.029). Age younger than 40 years was a significant independent prognostic factor and increased the risk for metastasis and death.

Patients younger than aged 40 years had a more advanced stage at the time of diagnosis and poor prognosis compared with older patients. Young patients treated for cure more often developed distant metastases and had inferior survival.