Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the overall survival and the disease free survival in patients with advanced colorectal cancer [Stage III(b-c) – IV].
Methods: 215 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer since March 1986 to February 2009 were retrospectively analyzed.
Results: On 215 patients 61 were lost in follow-up. In our series median age was 64 years (range 32-89); 75 patients (48.7%) had advanced colorectal cancer at the moment of the diagnosis, while 79 patients were re-staged as advanced during follow-up; in 72 patients (46.7%) the primary tumour was localized to the colon, in 82 (53.3%) was to the rectum; 144 patients (93.5%) underwent surgical treatment, while 10 patients underwent palliative resection. The overall median survival was 45.6 months, with 89.1%, 60.1% and 35.7% of patients living at 1,3 and 5 years respectively. The free overall survival was 87.2%, 53.6% e 35.7% at 1, 3 and 5 years respectively.The patients that underwent curative surgical treatment were associated with better 3 years survival (62%).
Conclusions: The treatment for patients with advanced colorectal cancer is controversial, however the surgery with curative intent plays an essential role in the management of this tumour. Our study confirms the evidences of the literature.
KEY WORDS: colorectal cancer stage IV survival, metastasis.
