Evaluating Age related differences
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Retrospective study evaluating age dependent differences in clinicopathological characteristics and survival in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC)
IRAS ID
250103
Contact name
Chukwuemeka Anele
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research & Development
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Several studies have suggested that young patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) have different clinicopathological features and are more likely to present with advance disease compared to older age group. Others have found no difference in between the age groups. Similar controversies exist with regards to prognosis and survival with some reporting poorer outcome in young patients whilst others demonstrated the opposite. Several factors have been identified as contributing to the age-related differences in incidence and prognosis observed in published literature. They include: absence of routine screening in young patient groups, environmental factors such as western-style diet and increased exposure to carcinogens (22), lack of clinician awareness leading to dismissal of red flag colorectal symptoms (change in bowel habit, per rectal bleeding or altered bowel habit) in young adults (11) and inherent reluctance of young adults to seek medical help. This has led to a campaign to increase clinician and patient awareness of risk of CRC in young adults.
There is sparse literature describing age-related differences in patients with CRC from the United Kingdom (UK). This study aims to address this by comparing clinicopathological features, prognostic factors, overall survival and disease-free survival amongst patients diagnosed with CRC using data from a UK tertiary institution.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/YH/0287
Date of REC Opinion
17 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion