Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the fourth most frequent cause of cancer death worldwide. Nonetheless, despite being a frequent cancer on which many epidemiological international studies have already been written, Portuguese epidemiological data are scarce and in particular there are very few specific data for Minho Region, which is traditionally recognized as a high incidence area. Aim: Characterize CRC patients treated at Braga Hospital. Methods: Data regarding clinical and preoperative diagnostic examinations, operative reports and histopathological and follow-up data was collected prospectively and stored in two Excel PC databases (colon and rectal cancer) and statistically analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 19.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA). All comparisons were examined for statistical significance using Pearson’s chi-square (χ2) test and Fisher’s exact test (when n