Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41931131›Full record

ArticleCancer causes & control : CCC2026

Temporal trends in the cause of death of patients with colon and rectal cancer.

Lauren Weaver, Catherine G Tran, Elle Kalbfell, Alexander Troester, Sarah L Mott, Pridvi Kandagatla, Ajay Prakash, Schelomo Marmor, Imran Hassan, Paolo Goffredo

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Article in Cancer causes & control : CCC, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Lauren WeaverDepartment of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Catherine G TranDepartment of Surgery, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Elle KalbfellDepartment of Surgery, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Alexander TroesterDepartment of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Sarah L MottHolden Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Pridvi KandagatlaColon and Rectal Surgery Associates, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Ajay PrakashDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Schelomo MarmorDepartment of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Imran HassanDepartment of Surgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Paolo GoffredoDepartment of Surgery, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA. goffr002@umn.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundColorectal cancer ranks second in cancer-related deaths, but management has significantly evolved over the past two decades with increasing use of systemic therapy, organ preservation, and a lowering of the cancer screening age alongside new threats such as COVID-19. Thus, we explored temporal trends in cause of death (COD) among colon and rectal cancer patients.

methodsThe Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database queried colon and rectal adenocarcinoma adults [2004-2021]. COVID-19 data were available for the years 2020-2021. Multinomial logistic regression estimated patient and tumor effects on COD.

resultsAmong 400,747 patients, 52% with colon cancer and 51% with rectal cancer died. Of colon cancer deaths, 58% died of their primary malignancy and 20% from cardiopulmonary disease. Meanwhile, 72% of rectal cancer patients died from their cancer, followed by cardiopulmonary disease (13%). COVID-19 contributed to 7% and 5% of deaths from 2020 to 2021 for colon and rectal cancer patients, respectively. For localized tumors, the most common COD for colon cancer was cardiopulmonary disease (40%), while colorectal cancer (48%) remained the leading COD for rectal cancer. Over time, colon cancer-related deaths declined while rectal cancer-related deaths remained stable. In the multinomial model, lower-staged patients further out from their diagnosis were less likely to die from their primary malignancy.

conclusionIn this US cohort, colon cancer-related deaths have declined, but most rectal cancer patients die from their primary malignancy. Localized colon cancer patients were more likely to die from non-cancer causes, highlighting the importance of proactive comorbidity management during and after treatment to improve survival.

Indexed as

Colonic NeoplasmsCOVID-19Rectal NeoplasmsAdultAgedCause of DeathFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSARS-CoV-2SEER ProgramUnited StatesCauses of deathColon cancerMortality trendsRectal cancer

Identifiers

PMID41931131

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