Colorectal cancer. A study of 230 patients

Clinical presentation, risk factors, investigations, pathology and treatment were examined in a retrospective review of 230 patients with colorectal cancer. Many patients presented with symptoms not usually associated with colorectal cancer, such as pain in the upper part of the abdomen, and rectal bleeding separate from the stool. Iron deficiency anaemia was an uncommon presentation. Over all, one-third of patients had at least one risk factor for colorectal cancer. Risk factors such as adenomatous polyps and family history of colorectal cancer were more common than inflammatory bowel disease and polyposis coli. Although a delay in diagnosis was recorded in one-quarter of patients, the finding of a negative correlation between duration of symptoms and extent of spread suggests that the length of the symptomatic illness is not an important factor in prognosis. Contrary to surgical and medical teaching, only 43% of cancers were in the rectum and rectosigmoid area, and, hence, within reach of the standard sigmoidoscope. Surgical resection was performed in 76% of patients. Forty-three per cent of patients who underwent surgery developed at least one postoperative complication resulting in a longer stay in hospital.