Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 14, 2015; 21(46): 13095-13100
Published online Dec 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i46.13095
Prevalence and features of colorectal lesions among Hispanics: A hospital-based study
Hassan Ashktorab, Adeyinka O Laiyemo, Edward Lee, Marcia Cruz-Correa, Amita Ghuman, Mehdi Nouraie, Hassan Brim
Hassan Ashktorab, Adeyinka O Laiyemo, Edward Lee, Marcia Cruz-Correa, Amita Ghuman, Mehdi Nouraie, Hassan Brim, Gastroenterology Division and Cancer Center, Pathology Department, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC 20059, United States
Author contributions: Ashktorab H and Brim H designed, analyzed and wrote the paper; Ghuman A participated in data collection; Laiyemo AO, Lee E, Cruz-Correa M and Nouraie M participated in data analysis.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Howard University Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent as this is a retrospective study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no financial relationships to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Hassan Brim, Gastroenterology Division and Cancer Center, Pathology Department, Howard University College of Medicine, 2041 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20059, United States. hbrim@howard.edu
Telephone: +1-202-8064198 Fax: +1-202-6671686
Received: February 1, 2015
Peer-review started: February 1, 2015
First decision: March 16, 2015
Revised: August 4, 2015
Accepted: August 28, 2015
Article in press: August 31, 2015
Published online: December 14, 2015
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of colorectal adenoma and carcinoma in an inner city Hispanic population.

METHODS: We reviewed the reports of 1628 Hispanic patients who underwent colonoscopy at Howard University from 2000 to 2010. Advanced adenoma was defined as adenoma ≥ 1 cm in size, adenomas with villous histology, high grade dysplasia and/or invasive cancer. Statistical analysis was performed using χ2 statistics and t-test.

RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 54 years, 64.2% were females. Polyps were observed in 489 (30.0%) of patients. Adenoma prevalence was 16.8% (n = 273), advanced adenoma 2.4% (n = 39), and colorectal cancer 0.4% (n = 7). Hyperplastic polyps were seen in 6.6% of the cohort (n = 107). Adenomas predominantly exhibited a proximal colonic distribution (53.7%, n = 144); while hyperplastic polyps were mostly located in the distal colon (70%, n = 75). Among 11.7% (n = 191) patients who underwent screening colonoscopy, the prevalence of colorectal lesions was 21.4% adenoma, 2.6% advanced adenoma; and 8.3% hyperplastic polyps.

CONCLUSION: Our data showed low colorectal cancer prevalence among Hispanics in the Washington DC area. However, the pre-neoplastic pattern of colonic lesions in Hispanics likely points toward a shift in this population that needs to be monitored closely through large epidemiological studies.

Keywords: Colon, Rectum, Adenoma, Carcinoma, Hispanics

Core tip: Hispanics are becoming a sizable portion of the United States population and are one of the fastest growing demographic groups. Like other minorities, their adherence to screening colonoscopy is low. With changes in their diet and lifestyle, they seem to be presenting more colorectal lesions of neoplastic nature than their counterparts in their home countries. Increased attention and awareness within this population is needed to preempt an increase in colorectal cancer incidence.