evaluation and treatment of colorectal cancer in shahid rahnemoon and afshar hospitals, yazd-iran

introduction: colorectal cancer is the most common cancer of the alimentary system. in women, it is the second leading cause of mortality after breast cancer while in men, it is the third leading cause of death after lung and prostate carcinoma. prevalence is more in population older than 50 years and increases in older people. therefore, best treatment and prognosis is early diagnosis of disease. methods: this study was a retrospective, cross-sectional study that included files of 191 patients of shahid rahnemoon and afshar hospitals (two main hospitals) in yazd, iran from 1992 till 1999. the aim was to evaluate the abundance and distribution of colorectal cancer with respect to staging, age, occupation, residence, clinical signs and method of treatment. all of the patients had a cancer pathology report. results: of the total of 191 patients with colorectal cancer, 186 cases were adenocarcinoma and 5 cases were lymphoma. prevalence rate in men was more than women and their age range was between 28 and 94 years. 127 patients (67%) were in the 60 – 69 years age group , while 7.3% were in the 20 -39 years age group. 106 patients (55.5%) were men and 85 patients (44.5%) were women. 64.9% were urban dwellers and 35.1% were rural. surgical treatment included abdominoperinneal resection (a.p.r) in 55 patients (28.8%), anterior resection (a.r) and anastomosis in 40 patients (20.9%), right and left hemicolectomy, each in 25 patients and rectosigmoiedectomy and anastomosis in 18 patients(19.4%). results of treatment were as follows:177 patients (92.76%) had relative recovery post operation, 5 cases (2.6%) were discharged from the hospital against medical advice, 3 cases (1.6%) died and 6 cases (3.1%) were discharged with poor condition after laparotomy. conclusion: most of the patients with colorectal cancer referred with rectorrhagia, main type of cancer was adenocarcinoma (97.4%) and the most frequent surgical procedure performed was a.p.r. further research projects in the field of diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of these patients can be helpful in the treatment of these patients.