PROFILE OF COLORECTAL-CANCER AT A COMMUNITY-HOSPITAL WITH A MULTIETHNIC POPULATION

A retrospective 10-year review of all (311) new cases of colorectal ca ncer at a community hospital serving a multiethnic urban population wa s carried out in order to study characteristics of the disease other t han incidence and mortality rates. There was a striking similarity des pite ethnic differences in most characteristics. The only differences between ethnic groups seen were anatomic distribution of cancer in the colon (statistically significant) and male-to-female ratio of colon c ancer (apparent but not statistically significant). Characteristics ar e classified into three types: (1) Not influenced by ethnicity or by e nvironment: Dukes' stage at presentation, colon-to-rectum ratio, histo logy, length of hospital stay, survival; (2) Possibly influenced by en vironment: mean age, male-to-female ratio, presence of synchronous pol yps, duration of symptoms; (3) Influenced by ethnicity: anatomic distr ibution of cancer in the colon.