Annals of Surgical Oncology Sign the Guestbook
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
10.1245/s10434-007-9444-2
Annals of Surgical Oncology 14:2567-2576 (2007)
© 2007 Society of Surgical Oncology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Costi, R.
Right arrow Articles by Sarli, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Costi, R.
Right arrow Articles by Sarli, L.

Original Article

Palliative Resection of Colorectal Cancer: Does It Prolong Survival?

Renato Costi, MD, PhD1,2, Antonio Mazzeo, MD1, Davide Di Mauro, MD1, Licia Veronesi, MD3, Giuliano Sansebastiano, BS3, Vincenzo Violi, MD1, Luigi Roncoroni, MD1 and Leopoldo Sarli, MD1

1 Dipartimento di Scienze Chirurgiche, Università di Parma, Parma, Italia
2 Service Chirurgie Viscerale, CHI de Poissy/ St.-Germain-En-Laye, St.-Germain-En-Laye, France
3 Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Università di Parma, Parma, Italia

Correspondence: Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Renato Costi, MD, PhD; E-mail: renatocosti{at}hotmail.com

Background: It is still a matter of debate as to whether resective surgery of the primary tumor may prolong the survival of patients affected by incurable colorectal cancer (CRC). The main goal of this retrospective study, carried out on patients not undergoing any therapy other than surgery, was to quantify the benefit of primary tumor removal in patients with differently presenting incurable CRC.

Methods: One hundred and thirty consecutive patients were operated on for incurable CRC (83 undergoing resective and 47 non-resective procedures). With the purpose of comparing homogenous populations and of identifying patients who may benefit from primary tumor resection, the patients were classified according to classes of disease, based on the "metastatic pattern" and the "resectability of primary tumor."

Results: In patients with "resectable" primary tumors, resective procedures are associated with longer median survival than after non-resective ones (9 months vs 3). Only patients with distant spread without neoplastic ascites/carcinosis benefit from primary tumor removal (median survival: 9 months vs 3). Morbidity and mortality of resective procedures is not significantly different from that of non-resective surgery, either in the population studied or in any of the groups considered.

Conclusions: Palliative resection of primary CRC should be pursued in patients with unresectable distant metastasis (without carcinomatosis), and, intraoperatively, whenever the primary tumor is technically resectable.

Key Words: Palliative resection • Colorectal cancer • Primary tumor • Carcinosis • Metastasis






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2007 by the Society of Surgical Oncology.