EPIDEMIOLOGY OF COLORECTAL CANCERS IN THE FRENCH DEPARTMENT OF THE SOMME (1983-1984)

The incidence, urban/rural status, treatments and rate of survival of colorectal cancers are studied on the total 496 patients recorded by t he Somme Cancer Registry in 1983-1984. The global world-standardized i ncidence for 100 000 is of 35.5 for men and 21.8 for women. The is no significant difference in the proportion of colorectal cancer between sexes. The distribution of colon cancer between urban and rural popula tions is even, for the Somme departement taken as a whole. Yet, there is an higher risk of rectal cancer for urban women (RR + 1.9, with SD 1.24-2.82). Overall, the Dukes' stages at diagnosis for colorectal can cer are as follows: A: 12.9%; B: 31.5%; C: 25.2%; D: 30.4% of cases. T he rate of curative surgery for colon cancer is of 61.5%, against 51% for rectal cancer. The men's and women's absolute global survival by t en years is higher for colon (22%) than rectal cancer (14%), for femal e colon (27%) than for male (19%), for female rectal cancer (18%) than for male (12%), as well as for 45-64 years group vs. patients 65 and older, for Dukes' A and B vs. C and D, for patients undergoing curativ e surgery vs. those treated with palliative surgery. The rate of disea se in the Somme department rankes between that of highly industrialize d European countries and poorer Eastern and Southern European nations. The relative survival rate for colon cancer patients is slightly high er than the European average, whereas for rectal cancer the survival r ate is significantly lower.