Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer in French Guiana From 2003 to 2017

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major global public health issue, with 1.9 million new cases and 904,000 deaths in 2022. French Guiana is an overseas territory located in the Amazon region with many unique features, but data on CRC in this area remains limited. The objective of this work was to evaluate the prognosis of CRC and the associated factors in French Guiana.

We used the French Guiana Cancer Registry database for the period 2003 to 2017. A survival analysis was conducted. Additionally, standardized incidence and mortality rates were calculated and mapped using QGIS.

During this period, 457 patients were included, with a male predominance (54.7%). The median age was 62 years. One-third of the population was born abroad. The 5-year overall survival rate was 47.4% (95% CI [42.1-53.5]). Female sex was associated with better 5-year survival: 55% [47.2-64.0] vs. 41% [35.0-50.0] for males (p = 0.03). In the multivariate analysis, sex and place of birth were independently associated with overall survival (HR = 0.7 [0.5-0.9], p = 0.002 for females; HR = 1.5 [1.1-2.1], p = 0.005 for those born abroad). The age-standardized incidence rate, adjusted to the world population, was 22.6 per 100,000 in men and 17.2 per 100,000 in women. Standardized mortality was 14 per 100,000 for men and 8.5 per 100,000 for women.

In French Guiana, the 5-year survival rate for CRC was lower than in mainland France. Being born abroad was associated with poorer survival, reflecting health inequalities linked to socio-economic vulnerability in this territory, despite a lower overall incidence of CRC.