Assessment of the Clinicopathologic Characteristics and Survival Rates of Colorectal Cancer Among Syrian Refugees and Turkish Population in Gaziantep Province

Abstract

PURPOSESyrian refugees (SRs) have had difficulties in the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of chronic diseases, such as cancer, because of the conflict in the region. The cancer diagnosis and treatment process of SR are also a matter of curiosity. We aimed to compare the demographic characteristics and survival outcome data of SRs and Turkish citizens (TCs), and colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancer types seen with similar frequency globally.MATERIALS AND METHODSA total of 421 patients with CRC were included. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log-rank test was used for comparison. Patient demographic data were compared using the Pearson Chi-square test and independent t test.RESULTSIn total, 421 patients (282 TCs and 139 SRs) were included in this study. The mean age was 52.9 ± 14.3 years for the entire population: 55.3 ± 14.1 years for TCs and 47.9 ± 13.4 years for SRs. Forty (29%) SRs and 60 (21.4%) TCs had de novo metastatic disease (P = .08). The median OS in the general population was 57.9 months (95% CI, 40.1 to 75.7), whereas it was 80.9 months (95% CI, 56.5 to 97.2) in TCs and 42.2 months in SRs (95% CI, 27.0 to 57.4; P = .006). In the nonmetastatic group, the median OS did not reach (NR) in TCs, and it was 52.6 months (95% CI, 43.7 to 61.5) in SRs (P = .02). In the metastatic group, the median OS was 21 months (95% CI, 8.5 to 29.2) in TCs, and it was 18.9 months in SRs (95% CI, 16.3 to 25.7; P = .93).CONCLUSIONThe survival rate was lower in the SR group. Since CRC is also common among refugees, developing and implementing methods to improve the welfare of vulnerable populations is necessary.