Five Year Survival Outcomes of Prospectively Recorded Cohort Data for Older Adults versus Younger Adults with Resected Primary Rectal Cancer

Background: Rectal cancer predominantly occurs in older adults. We aimed to compare the long-term outcomes of older adults (≥70 years) versus younger adults (Methods: Consecutive patients who had resection of a primary rectal cancer between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2010 were identified from a prospective database at the Concord Repatriation General Hospital and stratified into two age groups: ences in patients, cancer, and treatment characteristics were determined by Chi-square tests. 5-year Overall Survival (OS) and Cancer-Specific Survival (CSS) were determined by the Kaplan-Meier method and by multivariable Cox regression analysis. Results: Of 714 included patients, the mean age was 65.8 years (range, 21 - 92 years). 407 (57%) patients were aged 70 years. Older age (>70 years) predicted more comorbidity (p 70 years), compared with younger adults (Conclusion: Older adults who had had a resection of stage I-IV primary rectal cancer received less neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy and had worse OS and CSS than their younger counterparts.