Tumour sidedness and clinicopathological features of resected colon cancer in rural population of Northern Pakistan: single institutional analysis

Abstract

Objectives: Different clinicopathological and molecular features have been demonstrated between right and left sided colon cancers. We aimed to characterize colon cancer and sidedness among a North-Pakistani rural population diagnosed with colon cancer in our institution. Methods: Seventy patients were included in the study that received adjuvant chemotherapy at Bannu Institute of Nuclear Medicine Oncology and Radiotherapy) Bannu, Pakistan from January 2014 to December 2017. Chi-square test was used for significance of categorical variables. p-Values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: Mean age at diagnosis for right side colon cancer patients was 43.94 years and for left side colon cancer, it was 49.83 with no significant difference. Male patients were presented more with right (77% vs. 54%, p = 0.044) and females with predominantly left sided tumours i.e. (46% vs. 23%, p = 0.044). Right sided cancer tended to be more poorly differentiated (20% vs. 0%, p = 0.020). Mucinous adenocarcinoma was seen mostly in right sided colon cancer (37% vs. 3%, p ≤ 0.001). There were more locally advanced presentation of right side colon cancer with more node positive (83% vs. 60%, p = 0.025) and lymphovascular invasion (51% vs. 37%, p = 0.016). Sigmoid colon was the most common tumour subsite involved. Conclusion: Our study is the first report of colon cancer in a rural population in North-Pakistan. An earlier onset of tumours (44–50 years) was observed in comparison with global data.