Elderly patients with colorectal cancer have different clincopathological characteristics from younger patients. Colorectal cancers tend to localize in the proximal colon, from cecum to the splenic flexure in the elderly patients. Changes in the stools, rectal bleeding or black stool, abdominal pain, fatigue, weight loss and anemia are the common symptoms. Analysis showed that age is one of independent risk factors for lower completion rates of colonoscopy. Therefore, the choice of diagnosis methods in elderly patients should be careful. Achieving a clear diagnosis and avoiding complications should be considered at the same time. Most colorectal cancers in elderly are highly and moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas and locally advanced, and have less lymphatic and blood metastasis. The proportion of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma increases with the increase of age, which should be concerned. Multiple colorectal cancers and colorectal cancer with extra-colorectal malignancy are not rare in the elderly patients. The common extra-colorectal tumors consist of gastric cancer, lung cancer, biliary carcinoma, pancreas cancer and malignancy from blood system. Molecular events, such as mutations of KARS, BRAF, TP53 and deficiency of DNA mismatch repair, are more frequent in elderly colorectal cancer patients. Many factors have impact on treatment decision in elderly patients with colorectal cancer, including age, comorbidities, physiological functions of organs and willingness of patients and their relatives. Although surgery is still the main treatment, the proportion of radical surgery is lower and emergency surgery is higher as compared to younger patients. With the development of minimally invasive surgical techniques and advances in anesthesia and perioperative management, laparoscopic surgery has become widespread in elderly patients with colorectal cancer. In addition, more attention should be paid to adjuvant therapy. Comprehensive individualized treatment plan should be taken to improve outcomes.
Adenocarcinoma ; pathology ; Aged ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; genetics ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Mutation ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVETo investigate the therapeutic principles and prognosis of synchronous primary colorectal carcinomas (SCC).

METHODSThe data of 66 SCC patients surgically treated from 1984 to 2003 were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTSThe synchronous primary colorectal carcinomas were diagnosed and resected simultaneously in 65 patients except one that was misdiagnosed. Thirty patients underwent combined resection, 35 patients segmental resection. Sixty-two patients received radical resection, while three patients had palliative resection due to hepatic metastasis. The overall postoperative 3-, 5-, 10-year survival rates were 70.3%, 60.0%, 40.6%, respectively. In the patients who had simultaneous radical resection, the 3-, 5-, 10-year survival rates were 76.0%, 65.9%, 46.4% respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe extent of resection should be individually determined by the lesion location, extent and distance between the lesions, as well as the patient's general condition. More extensive bowel resection, such as total or subtotal colectomy are suggested for those patients with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma syndrome in order to reduce or avoid the risk of metachronous colorectal carcinoma. The postoperative survival in patients with synchronous primary colorectal carcinoma is similar to those with solitary lesion.

Adult ; Aged ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; Colorectal Neoplasms, Hereditary Nonpolyposis ; genetics ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms, Multiple Primary ; genetics ; surgery ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; surgery ; Prognosis ; Stomach Neoplasms ; surgery ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is an inducible isoform responsive to cytokines, mitogens, and growth factors, and is believed to be an important enzyme related to colorectal cancer (CRC). Existing evidence suggests that COX-2 expression is normally suppressed by wild-type p53 but not mutant p53, suggesting that loss of p53 function may result in the induction of COX-2 expression. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between COX-2 expression and p53 levels in CRC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with sporadic colorectal adenocarcinoma (n=161) who underwent curative surgery in Chosun University Hospital were enrolled in this study. Expression of COX-2 and p53 proteins was examined by immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded cancer tissue blocks, and the relationship between COX-2 and/or p53 expression with clinicopathologic parameters was analyzed. RESUTLS: Expression of COX- 2 was positive in 47.8% of colorectal cancers, and significantly associated with the depth of tumor invasion (p= 0.042). In contrast, p53 was positive in 50.3% of the cases, and was associated with both age (p=0.025) and the depth of tumor invasion (p=0.014). There was no correlation between COX-2 expression and p53 expression (p=0.118). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that COX-2 expression might play an important role in the progression of colorectal cancer. However, COX-2 expression was not associated with mutational p53. Further studies are needed to clarify the regulatory mechanisms governing COX-2 overexpression in colorectal cancers.
Adenocarcinoma/*metabolism/pathology/surgery ; Aged ; Colorectal Neoplasms/*metabolism/pathology/surgery ; Cyclooxygenase 2/*metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/genetics/*metabolism

Differentiation-based histologic grading of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is widely used, but its clinical impact is limited by insufficient prognostic value, interobserver disagreement, and the difficulty of its application to CRC with specific histologic types such as mucinous and medullary carcinoma. A recently proposed novel grading system based on quantifying poorly differentiated clusters (PDCs) claims to have the advantages of reproducibility and improved prognostic value, and might apply to heterogeneous CRC. We aimed to validate the clinicopathologic significance of the PDCs-based grading system and to determine the relationship between this grading system and microsatellite instability (MSI). Two hundred and one patients who had undergone radical surgery were reviewed. Based on the number of PDCs, 85, 58, and 58 tumors were classified as grade (G) 1 (42.3%), G2 (28.9%), and G3 (28.9%), respectively. PDCs-based grade was significantly associated with T, N, and M stages; lymphovascular invasion; conventional histologic grade; and frequent tumor budding (all P <0.001). In multivariate analysis, PDCs-based grade was found to be an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival (P = 0.022; hazard ratio, 3.709 [G2], 7.461 [G3]). G3 CRC significantly correlated with high MSI (MSI-H) compared to G1 and G2 (P = 0.002; odds ratio, 5.750). In conclusion, this novel grading would provide valuable prognostic information to a greater number of patients and would require continued verification. PDCs-based grading is feasible for CRCs with heterogeneous morphology, and we propose that the association between G3 and MSI-H be further evaluated in different histological subtypes of CRC.
Colorectal Neoplasms/*genetics/*pathology/surgery ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis/pathology ; Male ; *Microsatellite Instability ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Grading/*methods ; Tumor Burden/*physiology

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing ; metabolism ; Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Adenosine Triphosphatases ; metabolism ; Age Factors ; Carcinoma, Endometrioid ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Colorectal Neoplasms, Hereditary Nonpolyposis ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; DNA Mismatch Repair ; DNA Repair Enzymes ; metabolism ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; metabolism ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Mismatch Repair Endonuclease PMS2 ; MutL Protein Homolog 1 ; MutS Homolog 2 Protein ; metabolism ; Neoplasms, Multiple Primary ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Nuclear Proteins ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinicopathologic and molecular characteristics of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), and to improve the level of diagnosis and treatments of HNPCC. METHODS: Thirty HNPCC patients (HNPCC group) who were treated in Xiangya Hospital were retrospectively analyzed, and 25 patients with sporadic colorectal cancer in the same duration were randomly chosen as a control group. The onset of age, location of tumor, pathological type, treatment method, and prognosis were compared in the 2 groups. The expression loss rate of mismatch repair gene (MMR) MLH1 and MSH2 in the 2 groups was detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The onset age in the HNPCC group was earlier than that in the control group (P<0.05). The rate of proximal colonic tumor the occurrence of multiple tumors, and the proportion of well differentiated adenocarcinoma in the HNPCC group were all higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). The expression loss rate of MLH1 and MSH2 in the HNPCC group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). One third in the HNPCC group received subtotal proctocolectomy. The prognosis of HNPCC patients was comparable with that of patients with sporadic colorectal cancer (P>0.05). CONCLUSION HNPCC patients are characterized with early onset associating with multiple tumors. The accuracy of diagnosis can be improved by combining the detection of MMR gene. Optimal surgical treatment and close follow-up may bring good result to HNPCC patients.
Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing ; genetics ; metabolism ; Adenocarcinoma ; diagnosis ; genetics ; pathology ; surgery ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Colorectal Neoplasms, Hereditary Nonpolyposis ; diagnosis ; genetics ; pathology ; surgery ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; MutL Protein Homolog 1 ; MutS Homolog 2 Protein ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mutation ; Neoplasms, Second Primary ; pathology ; Nuclear Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between KRAS gene mutations and clinicopathological parameters in patients with colorectal carcinoma (CRC).

METHODSPCR-based direct sequencing was used to detect the mutations of KRAS gene and to correlate between clinicopathological characteristics and the presence of various KRAS mutations in 244 cases of CRC.

RESULTSKRAS mutations were identified in 92 cases (37.7%) of CRC. Five types of mutation were detected at codon 12, including G12D (40 cases, 16.4%), G12V (16 cases, 6.6%), G12A (7 cases, 2.9%), G12S (5 cases, 2.0%) and G12C (4 cases, 1.6%). Two types of mutation were detected at codon 13, including G13D (17 cases, 7.0%) and G13C (2 cases, 0.8%). One type of mutation was detected in codon 61, i.e. Q61K (1 case, 0.4%). KRAS mutation rate was higher in females (45.6%, 36/79) than in males (32.1%, 53/165; P < 0.05), but not related to another clinicopathological characteristics.

CONCLUSIONSFemale CRC patients have a higher KRAS mutation rate than the male patients. KRAS mutation has no significant correlation with patient's age, tumor site, tumor gross appearance, degree of differentiation, depth of invasion, TNM stages, lymphatic invasion, abdominal or distant metastases and prognosis in this study.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Codon ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Neoplasm Staging ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; genetics ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sex Factors ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult ; ras Proteins ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the correlation of clinical effect and prognosis between patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and different K-ras status.

METHODSThe clinical characteristics, chemotherapeutic regimens and survival of 153 mCRC patients with different K-ras status were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSThe median overall survival (OS) in patients without K-ras mutation were 31.7 months, significantly longer than 21.3 months in the patients with K-ras mutation (P = 0.037). The median progression-free survival (PFS) and OS in patients who received chemotherapy followed by anti-EGFR antibody treatment were 11.5 and 39.3 months, respectively, significantly longer as compared with the PFS and OS in those received chemotherapy in combination with anti-EGFR antibody concomitantly (5.7, P = 0.02, and 28.7 months, P = 0.034, respectively).

CONCLUSIONSK-ras status is a prognostic biomarker for mCRC patients treated with anti-EGFR antibody. The combination settings of anti-EGFR in combination with chemotherapy may improve survival of mCRC patients with wild-type K-ras status.

Aged ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; therapeutic use ; Camptothecin ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; surgery ; therapy ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Genes, ras ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; secondary ; therapy ; Lung Neoplasms ; secondary ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Organoplatinum Compounds ; therapeutic use ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; immunology ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate