Page 41 - SRPSKO DRUŠTVO ISTRAŽIVAČA RAKA

SDIRSACR Oncology Insights

In 54.1% of cases, the tumors were localized in the rectum (Figure 3). Of the colon tumors, 31.9% were localized in the
left colon and 14% in the right colon.
A group of patients with LARC who underwent nCRT consisted of 235 men and 88 women with an average age of 60±12
years. Within this group, 20% of patients had a good response (TRG1+TRG2), 37% a moderate response (TRG3), and
43% a poor response (TRG4+TRG5) (Table 2).

Figure 3. Distribution of tumors according to the localization

Table 2. Frequency of LARC cases subjected to nCRT according to the response

Discussion
This study aimed to provide insight into the epidemiology of surgical cases of colorectal cancer in Serbia, with a focus
on trends in pathology among individuals with early onset disease and patients subjected to nCRT. For this purpose, a
large amount of data was collected, covering 14 years of practice in a tertiary care unit.
Our study looked at the pathological and demographic characteristics associated with colorectal cancer at diagnosis.
The study showed that the majority of patients who underwent CRC resection in the observed period were males
(60%). This fits with data collected from all age groups and nations, which show that males are approximately 1.5 times
more likely to develop CRC than females (11). Some studies suggest that this might be due to a shorter life expectancy
of males or the role of the sex steroid hormone estrogen in CRC development (12, 13). The data of the countries in the
region also indicate a larger number of males affected by CRC than females (14, 15). Women with early-onset disease
are slightly more frequent than overall, which was confirmed by our study (46% vs. 40%).
The majority of patients were in the sixth or seventh decade (average age of 62±12 years), with 15.6% of all cases being
early-onset patients (≤50 years). This finding is expected considering that old age is an acknowledged risk factor for CRC
and that the risk of developing the disease increases with age (16, 17). Distribution across age categories was similar
in males and females. The peak incidence occurred in the age group of 60–65. The incidence of CRC is increased after

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