Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 22 pp 22927—22948

Cause of death among patients with colorectal cancer: a population-based study in the United States

Jiayuan Chen1, , Yongqiang Zheng1,2, , Haihong Wang1, , Dejun Zhang1, , Lei Zhao1, , Dandan Yu1, , Zhenyu Lin1, , Tao Zhang1, ,

  • 1 Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China

Received: June 3, 2020       Accepted: August 19, 2020       Published: November 28, 2020      

https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.104022
How to Cite

Copyright: © 2020 Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

CRC (Colorectal cancer) is one of the most common causes of death worldwide and in the US (United States). In this study, we aim to perform a population-based analysis on the cause of death among patients with CRC in the US. A total of 834,510 CRC patients diagnosed between 1975 and 2016 in the US were selected from the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) program. Causes of death among CRC patients were characterized and SMRs (standardized mortality ratios) of death from non-cancer causes were calculated. Among all CRC patients included in this study, a total of 531,507 deaths were recorded, of which 51.3% were due to CRC, 10.3% were due to other cancers, and 38.4% were due to non-cancer causes. Recently, there has been a relative decrease in index-cancer deaths and an increase in non-cancer causes among CRC patients. The mortality risk from non-cancer rises with accumulating age and longer follow-up time. Cardiovascular diseases are the most prevalent non-cancer causes, accounting for 20.3% of all deaths among CRC patients. Compared with the general population, the mortality rate of non-cancer deaths among CRC patients is doubled (SMR, 2.02; 95% confidence interval, 2.01-2.03).

Abbreviations

SEER: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results; SMRs: standardized mortality ratios; CI: confidence interval; CRC: colorectal cancer; PCPs: primary care physicians; AD: Alzheimer’s disease; NCHS: National Center for Health Statistics; NVSS: National Vital Statistics System; MMR: mismatch repair.