Characteristics of Young Colorectal Cancer in Brunei Darussalam: an Epidemiologic Study of 29 Years (1986-2014)

Abstract

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal cancer and the incidence is increasing. CRC is more common with increasing age, but a proportion occurs in young adults, termed young CRC. This study assessed the incidence and the demographic of young CRC in Brunei Darussalam. Materials and Methods: All histologically proven CRC between 1986 and 2014 registered with the Department of Pathology cancer registry were reviewed and data extracted for analyses. Young CRC was defined as cancer in patients aged less than 45 years. The various population groups were categorized into locals (Malays, Chinese and Indigenous) and expatriates. Results: Over the study period, there were 1,126 histologically proven CRC (mean age 59.1 ± 14.7 years, Male 58.0%, Locals 91.8% and 8.2% expatriates). Young CRC accounted for 15.1% with the proportion declining over the years, from 29% (1986-1990) to 13.2% (2011-2014). The proportion of young CRC was highest among the indigenous (30.8%), followed by the expatriates (29.3%), Malays (14.3%) and lowest among the Chinese (10.8%). The mean age of young CRC was 35.9 ± 6.2; lowest among the indigenous (33.5 ± 6.7), expatriate (34.9 ± 6.0) groupd and the Malays (35.6 ± 6.5) compared to the Chinese (38.6 ± 4.6), a similar trend being observed in the non-young CRC groups. There were no difference between the genders and tumor locations (rectum or colon) between the young and the non-young CRC cases. Female young CRC was significantly younger than male (p<0.05) without any significant variation between the various population groups (p>0.05). Conclusions: Our study showed that the young CRC accounted for 15.1% of all CRC with declining trend observed over recent years. Young CRC was more common among indigenous, expatriates and Malays and least common among the Chinese. There were no differences in the gender and tumor locations.

MicroRNA-455 suppresses the oncogenic function of HDAC2 in human colorectal cancer

“…(3 –5). The incidence of CRC is strongly related to age, presenting low incidence in people younger than 50 years and high incidence in aging people (6). Accumulative evidence is suggestive of a rapid increase in incidence as well as mortality rates of CRC in low-income countries (7,8).…”

Colorectal Cancer in Brunei Darussalam: An Overview and Rationale for National Screening Programme

“…Colonic polyps, the most common non-advanced polyps, and CRC were shown to have increased over two time periods, from 17.6% to 28.2% and from 4.0% to 4.7%, respectively (Chong et al, 2012;Wong et al, 2016). Colon tumours accounted for two-thirds of CRC, and there was no significant difference in tumour locations (colon or rectum) between non-young and young onset CRC cases (Koh et al, 2015).…”

“…Among the ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese and indigenous), the Chinese showed the highest ASR (Chong et al, 2009). Young onset CRC (aged ≤ 45 years) was high (15.1%) compared to rates reported in the more developed nations (~5%) (Koh et al, 2015). The proportion of young onset CRC declined over the years, from 29.0% (1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990) to 13.2% (2011-2014) (Koh et al, 2015).…”

“…The proportion of young onset CRC declined over the years, from 29.0% (1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990) to 13.2% (2011-2014) (Koh et al, 2015). The proportion of young onset CRC was highest among the indigenous (30.8%), followed by the expatriates (29.3%), Malays (14.3%), and lowest among the Chinese (10.8%) (Koh et al, 2015).…”

“…This pattern is also observed in Brunei Darussalam (Chong et al, 2009). The most common CRC in Brunei Darussalam is adenocarcinoma (97.2%) followed by neuroendocrine tumour (1.4%), and lymphoma (0.9%), with rectum accounting for a third of CRC site (Koh et al, 2015).…”