Rectal cancer in young adults: a series of 102 patients at a tertiary care centre in India

Objective  Rectal cancer in young patients is uncommon. There is little information on rectal cancer in young adults in India. The aim of this study was to determine the relative incidence of rectal cancer in young patients in India and identify any differences in histological grade and pathological stage between younger and older cohorts.
Method  All adult patients presenting at a tertiary colorectal unit with primary rectal adenocarcinoma between September 2003 and August 2007 were included. Patients were divided into two groups: 40 years and younger, and older than 40 years. Details regarding patient demographics, preoperative assessment, management and tumour grade and stage were obtained from a prospectively maintained database.
Results  One hundred and two of 287 patients (35.5%) were 40 or younger at presentation. Younger patients were more likely to present with less favourable histological features (52.0% vs 20.5% ( P  < 0.001)) and low rectal tumours (63.0% vs 50.0%) ( P  = 0.043), but were equally likely to undergo curative surgery compared to the older group ( P  = 0.629). Younger patients undergoing surgery had a higher pathological T stage (T0–2 18.9%, T3 62.3%, T4 19.7% vs 34.5%, 56.0%, 9.5%) ( P  = 0.027) and more advanced pathological N stage (N0 31.1%, N1 41.0%, N2 27.9% vs 53.4%, 26.7%, 17.2%) ( P  = 0.014).
Conclusion  The relative number of young patients with rectal cancer in this Indian series is higher than figures reported in western populations. The reasons for this are not clear. The histopathological features of rectal tumours in young patients in this study are consistent with similar studies in Western populations.