Age-specific patterns in colorectal cancer incidence and survival over time: a 17-year population-based cancer registry study from northeastern Italy.

Authors

Martina Taborelli, Federica Toffolutti, Tiziana Angelin, Elodie Lazzaretto, Mariella Losciale, Fabio Puglisi, Renato Cannizzaro, Elena Ongaro, Diego Serraino, Luigino Dal Maso

Published in

Digestive and liver disease : official journal of the Italian Society of Gastroenterology and the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver. Oct 05, 2026. Epub Oct 05, 2026.

Abstract

Age-specific differences in colorectal cancer remain insufficiently characterized in studies integrating incidence and survival dynamics.
We analyzed age-specific patterns of colorectal cancer incidence and survival over time using population-based registry data from northeastern Italy, including 16,752 colorectal adenocarcinomas (2005-2021).
Analyses examined early-onset (<50 years), screening-eligible (50-69 years), and late-onset (≥70 years) disease. Incidence trends were assessed using Joinpoint regression. Five-year net survival and conditional net survival were estimated using the Pohar-Perme method.
Early-onset cancers (4.2%) more often presented with advanced stage and high-grade histology, with stable incidence over time. Among screening-eligible individuals, incidence initially increased and then declined after the 2008 implementation of organized screening, particularly for stage I disease (annual percent change: +13.8% then -7.8%), left-sided (+7.3% then -19.9%), and rectal cancers. Five-year net survival improved over time, mainly in stage II-III. Stage IV survival remained poor, with modest gains in younger patients (16-29%) and persistently poor outcomes in older ones (6-8%). Conditional 5-year net survival increased across all age groups and stages, especially in stage IV (7-16% at diagnosis; 64-74% at 5 years).
These findings support timely diagnosis and appropriate care across age groups, continued screening among eligible individuals, and dynamic prognostic assessment.

PMID:
42833921
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 06 Oct 2026.

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