Table 1 Patient demographics and clinical characteristics

 Age in years, mean (SD)

64.9 (11.2)

60.54 (9.7)

69.1 (11.0)

< 0.001

 Male sex (n, %)

209 (50.7)

103 (51.5)

106 (50.0)

0.761

 Ethnicity (n, %)

0.747

  Chinese

332 (80.6)

157 (78.5)

175 (82.6)

  Malay

59 (14.3)

31 (15.5)

28 (13.2)

  Indian

12 (2.9)

7 (3.5)

5 (2.4)

  Others

9 (2.2)

5 (2.5)

4 (1.9)

 Body mass index-baseline (kg/m²)

23.5 (4.4)

23.9 (0.3)

23.2 (0.3)

0.096

 Smoking

46 (11.2)

22 (11.0)

24 (11.3)

0.918

 Hypertension

246 (59.7)

102 (51.0)

144 (67.9)

< 0.001

 Diabetes mellitus

115 (27.9)

49 (24.5)

66 (31.3)

0.134

 HbA1c, %, mean (SD)

6.9 (1.5)

6.8 (1.6)

0.591

 Hyperlipidaemia

204 (49.5)

90 (45.0)

114 (53.8)

0.075

 Any cardiovascular risk factor (n, %)

312 (75.7)

139 (69.5)

173 (81.6)

0.004

 No. of cardiovascular risk factor (n, %)

0.007

  0

100 (24.3)

61 (30.5)

39 (18.4)

  1

8 (1.9)

5 (2.5)

3 (1.4)

  2

35 (8.5)

21 (10.5)

14 (6.6)

  3

223 (54.1)

91 (45.5)

132 (62.3)

  4

46 (11.2)

22 (11.0)

24 (11.3)

Family history of cancer (n, %)

68 (16.5)

48 (24.0)

20 (9.4)

< 0.001

Family history of colon cancer (n, %)

29 (7.0)

16 (8.0)

13 (6.1)

0.459

Family history of other cancer (n, %)

28 (6.8)

12 (6.0)

16 (7.6)

0.533

Charlson co-morbidity index (n, %)

< 0.001

 ≤ 3

80 (19.4)

54 (27.0)

26 (12.3)

 4-6

252 (61.2)

97 (48.5)

155 (73.1)

 ≥ 7

80 (19.4)

49 (24.5)

31 (14.6)

 Prior cardiovascular disease

86 (20.9)

31 (15.5)

55 (25.9)

0.009

 Previous myocardial infarction

29 (7.0)

9 (4.5)

20 (9.4)

0.050

 Previous percutaneous coronary intervention

25 (6.1)

10 (5.0)

15 (7.8)

0.378

 Previous coronary artery bypass grafting

11 (2.7)

5 (2.5)

6 (2.8)

0.835

 Stroke/transient ischaemic attack

24 (5.8)

4 (2.0)

20 (9.4)

0.001

 Peripheral artery disease

12 (2.9)

3 (1.5)

9 (4.3)

0.098

 Atrial fibrillation

18 (4.3)

5 (2.5)

13 (6.1)

0.071

 Chronic kidney disease

16 (3.9)

2 (1.0)

14 (6.6)

0.003

Site (n, %)

0.004

 Caecal

20 (4.9)

7 (3.5)

13 (6.1)

 Ascending

41 (10.0)

14 (7.0)

27 (12.7)

 Transverse

49 (11.9)

19 (9.5)

30 (14.2)

 Descending

36 (8.7)

20 (10.0)

16 (7.6)

 Sigmoid

140 (34.0)

67 (33.5)

73 (34.4)

 Rectosigmoid

38 (9.2)

15 (7.5)

23 (10.9)

 Rectum

88 (21.4)

58 (29.0)

30 (14.2)

T stage (n, %)

< 0.001

 1

38 (9.2)

7 (3.5)

31 (14.6)

 2

41 (10.0)

18 (9.0)

23 (10.9)

 3

221 (53.6)

103 (51.5)

118 (55.7)

 4

112 (27.2)

72 (36.0)

40 (18.9)

N stage (n, %)

< 0.001

 0

229 (55.6)

58 (29.0)

171 (80.7)

 1

129 (31.3)

96 (48.0)

33 (15.6)

 2

54 (13.1)

46 (23.0)

8 (3.8)

 3

M stage (n, %)

< 0.001

 0

353 (85.7)

149 (74.5)

204 (96.2)

 1

59 (14.3)

51 (25.5)

8 (3.8)

Stage (n, %)

< 0.001

 1

64 (15.5)

11 (5.5)

53 (25.0)

 2

155 (37.6)

39 (19.5)

116 (54.7)

 3

134 (32.5)

99 (49.5)

35 (16.5)

 4

59 (14.3)

51 (25.5)

8 (3.8)

Histological cell type (n, %)

0.460

 Adenocarcinoma

399 (96.8)

195 (97.5)

204 (96.2)

 Others

13 (3.2)

5 (2.5)

8 (3.8)

Grade (n, %)

0.038

 Low/well differentiated

29 (7.0)

11 (5.5)

18 (8.5)

 Moderate

356 (86.4)

170 (85.0)

186 (87.7)

 Poor/high

27 (6.6)

19 (9.5)

8 (3.8)

Margin (n, %)

0.025

 Positive

11 (2.7)

9 (4.5)

2 (0.9)

 Negative

401 (97.3)

191 (95.5)

210 (99.1)

Radiotherapy (n, %)

55 (13.4)

53 (26.5)

2 (0.9)

< 0.001