The population characteristics of colon cancer in the Nord-west Russia: data of the Regional cancer registry

Objective. To estimate basic characteristics and trends of colon cancer (CC) in the Arkhangelsk Region (AR) by the data of regional population cancer registry (ARCR) between 2000 and 2010. Materials and methods. Data on all cases of CC (C18.0-C18.9) in the AR in 2000-2010 were extracted from the database of the ARCR. Distribution of cases CC by sex, place of residence of the patient, location and histological type were studied. The relationship between CC incidence and age of patients was also explored. Results. Over the study period, 3267 cases of the CC were recorded in the ARCR, the median age of patients was 70 years. Approximately 62% of all CC were diagnosed in women and 38% in men. Sigmoid colon cancer (42.7%) and adenocarcinoma (89.8%) were detected more frequently than other types. Histological confirmation was obtained in 74.7%. Stages I, II, III, IV and unknown were revealed at 6.0%, 42.9%, 16.9%, 28.3% and 5.9%, respectively. During the study period the proportion of the newly diagnosed tumors at stage IV remained unchanged, while stage I proportion has been slightly increasing (R 2=0.32). Chance to get CC became significant after 40-49 years. In the population older than 70 years, the CC incidence in men was significantly greater than in women - 190.3 and 142.3 per 100 000 population, respectively. Conclusions. Governmental support of primary health care didn’t provide significant improvement in earlier detection of CC. Screening among population over 50 years is warranted.