Alimentary malignancies in Arabs in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

A study was made of 89 cases of alimentary malignancies in Arab patients in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The pattern of alimentary involvement observed was colo-rectum 43%, stomach 34%, oesophagus 19% and small intestine 4.5%. This finding was in contrast to previous studies in Saudi Arabia which had reported the upper alimentary tract, particularly the oesophagus, as the site most frequently affected. Of the patients 80% were Saudis. The male:female ratio was 3.9:1. A striking feature was the youthfulness of several patients, 44% being under fifty years of age. There were only three cases of alimentary lymphoma. Although colo-rectal schistosomiasis was a moderately frequent finding in the population studied, there was no pathological evidence to support an aetiological association between bilharziasis and large bowel malignancy.