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I read the recent report(1) on this
subject with interest and have made certain observations. All, but one,
references are more than a decade old; 13 out of 17 references are more
than 17 years old. It would be incorrect to say that there is scant
information available on the subject from India. A recent issue of
Journal of Indian Association of Pediatric surgeons had published as
many as six patients (<12 years of age) reported through four Case
Reports contributed by Pediatric Surgey centers from different parts of
the country(2-5). I had also published a case three years ago, where I
had highlighted the differences between adults and children harboring
the colonic carcinoma(6).
All but one patient in the published report(1) were
less than 12 years old; if we review cases in the 12 to 18 years of age,
who are generally dealt with by General Surgeons and Surgical
Gastroenterologists, probably we would be able to locate a few more
cases. I am sure that experience from the western centers is also
limited to few numbers, similar to experience from India.
It is interesting to note that in most of the
children reported from India, the carcinoma was seen to involve the left
colon or rectum, contrary to the experience of a few from the western
world where half the patients have malignancy originating from the right
colon. In 9 out of the 14 cases reported from India in the last three
years I know of, the carcinoma originated in the rectum. The reason for
this demographical difference would be worth probing.
Y.K. Sarin,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Pediatric Surgery,
Maulana Azad Medical College,
New Delhi 110 002, India
-
Bhatia MS, Chandna S, Shah R, Patel DD. Colerectal
carcinoma in Indian children. Indian Pediatr 2000; 37: 1355-1358.
-
Baig SJ, Hui SK, Basu K, Sanyal S, Banerjee S,
Chatterjee U. Colorectal carcinoma in children: A report of 2 cases. J
Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg 2000; 5: 26-29.
-
Kumar JK, Rao KVG, Dwarkanath, Kameshwari, Rao KVJ.
Colorectal carcinoma in children. J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg 2000; 5:
30-32.
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Agarwal P, Malapure SM, Parelkar SV, Das SA,
Mathure AB. Carcinoma rectum in a 9-year old boy. I Indian Assoc Pediatr
Surg 2000; 5: 33-35.
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Rao SP, Prabhu VB, Pai GK, Pai PK. Unusual
presentation of colonic malignancy in a 10-year-old boy. J Indian Assoc
Pediatr Surg 2000; 5:36-39.
- Sarin YK, Jacob S, Prabhakar BR, Shah R. Adenocarcinoma colon.
Indian Pediatr 1997; 34: 345-347.
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