Adenocarcinoma of the retroperitoneal ascending and descending colon: sites of initial dissemination and clinical patterns of recurrence following surgery alone.

One hundred twenty-seven patients with previously untreated primary carcinomas of proximal, retroperitoneal large bowel were retrospectively analyzed. Sites of involvement in 33 patients with surgically incurable (disseminated) disease were analyzed to define patterns of initial spread. Ninety-four patients were analyzed following attempted curative resection to determine anatomical distribution of initial clinical recurrences. Thirty-one patients recurred (33%). Twenty-four of these patients (77.5%) demonstrated an initial pattern of relapse clinically confined to the abdomen and retroperitoneum. Analysis was performed to identify factors of prognostic significance. Implications for adjuvant therapy are discussed.