The Elderly Patient – Clinical-Pathological Particularities of Left Colon Cancer

Almost half of the patients with colorectal cancer are over 70 years old. The aim of the study is to analyse the main clinical and paraclinical characteristics of elderly patients with left colon cancer. 171 patients with left colon cancer were included in a retrospective study, analysing the differences between the patients under and those over 70 years from the point of view of the symptomatology, laboratory investigations, treatment of anemia, postoperative complications. Secondary anemia is seen in a quarter of the patients, and the indication of intraoperative transfusion was most frequent in the elderly (p=0.007). The incidence of intestinal occlusion increases with age, so that one third of the patients over 80 years are admitted with intestinal occlusion. The management of the elderly patient with left colon cancer should benefit from a pluridisciplinary approach, in the context of the numerous associated disorders and the particularities of the geriatric patient.