Incidence of large bowel cancer in Côte-d'Or (Burgundy)

The present study is based on the registry of digestive cancers set up for the French department of Côte-d'Or (455,727 residents). Large bowel cancer represents half of the gastrointestinal tract cancers recorded in the course of 2 years (1976-1977). The crude annual incidence rate was 52.2 per 100,000 for males, 41.7 per 100,000 for females. The age-standardized incidence rate for cancer of the rectum is one of the highest reported. The incidence rates for cancer of the colon are in the intermediate range. Half of the large bowel cancers were rectal cancers, nearly always adenocarcinoma. Coexisting benign polyps were seen in 21% of the cases at the time of diagnosis of carcinoma and were more common in males than in females. 54% of cancers of the colon and 62% of cancers of the rectum underwent curative surgery.