Survival in surgical palliative resection of stage IV colorectal cancer: short term results in a single institution.

AIM

In this study, we analyze clinical parameters, survival and possible advantage of surgery in patients affected by symptomatic Dukes D colorectal cancer.

METHODS

From July 2005 to December 2008 at our Oncological Surgery Unit we treated 69 symptomatic stage IV CRC, 46 of them resected at our Oncological Surgical Unit. Clinical variables were tested for their relationship to survival in a univariate prognostic analysis and revealed the interaction of the prognostic factors.

RESULTS

In symptomatic stage IV CRC with non-curable resection, the most robust univariate predictor for poor prognosis was impossibility to cancer resection. It is associated with significative decrease of survival also in the short term. In our series we do not observe correlation between poor prognosis and age, gender, localisation of tumor, depth of invasion, 19.9 and surgeons. CEA more than 100 microg/L and impossibility to adiuvant therapy have a significative role and are associated with poor prognosis.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggested that impossibility to perform cancer resection is associated with poor prognosis in symptomatic stage IV CRC and worse survival also in the short term.