Keywords
How to Cite
Abstract
The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is on the rise, and delay in diagnosis is a great problem in clinical practice in Pakistan. The purpose of this study was to find the clinical presentation of CRC and to investigate the relationship of clinical presentation with demographic and pathological parameters in patients in the southern region of Punjab. In Bahawal Victoria Hospital in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out from February 2025 to June 2025. The patients were CRC patients with consecutively collected non-probability sampling, giving a total of 105 patients. Clinical manifestations, demographic data, and TNM stage were noted. Descriptive statistics were computed, and stratified analysis with Fisher's exact test or chi-square test, as appropriate, was conducted. The mean age of participants was 58.69 ± 7.91 years, and 65.71% were male. The most common tumour stage was stage III (41.90%), stage II (31.43%), and stage I (26.67%). The common clinical presentations were bleeding per rectum (86.67%), altered bowel habit (72.38%), anaemia (33.33%), weight loss (24.76%), and abdominal mass (19.05%). No statistically significant differences were seen between any clinical presentation and age, gender, or tumour stage (p > 0.05). The common presenting features were bleeding per rectum and change in bowel habits in this cohort. The high percentage of stage III disease indicates late presentation and highlights the need to increase awareness levels of symptoms and signs of lower gastrointestinal disease, particularly colorectal cancer, and establish organised screening programmes in southern Punjab.