Colorectal adenocarcinoma in patients less than 40 years old.

Carcinoma of the colorectum knows no age barrier. To date, more than 1,400 cases have been reported to occur in persons less than 40 years old. Our experience with 70 patients treated over a ten-year interval is reviewed. Signs and symptoms in the young are not distinctive. Diagnosis depends on a high index of suspicion and appropriate investigative procedures. Survival times are shorter in the patients who have mucinous and anaplastic tumors, and their incidences seem to be increased in this age segment. Overall survival does not significantly differ from our general experience (41 per cent, 5-year survival). Early diagnosis and prompt institution of aggressive surgical treatment can be expected to produce survival equivalent to that in patients of other ages.