Surgical and pathological characteristics
The surgical and pathological characteristics of the cohort is outlined
in Table 2. The majority of colorectal cancer resections in both age
groups were urgent procedures that occurred within 30 days of diagnosis
(75-85 age group, 74% vs 85+ age group, 79%, p=0.35). Laparoscopic
procedures were more common in both groups (67% vs 77%, p=0.50) when
compared to open procedures. Both age groups demonstrated a high number
of right sided colon cancers (61% vs 73%, p=0.24), with no significant
difference in cancer locations between the two groups. In keeping with
tumour location, the most common surgical procedure in both groups was a
right hemicolectomy (59% vs 71%, p=0.49).
For the majority of cases in both groups, histopathological analysis
identified adenocarcinoma of no special type (86% vs 79%, p=0.46) with
a low histological grade of cancer (72% vs 72%, p=1.0). There was no
significant difference between groups with regards to stage of disease
at time of surgery. In both groups, the most common stage of cancer
progression at time of surgery was Stage IIa (29% vs 23%, p=0.57).