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. 2018 Feb 2;131(1469):51-58.

Disease recurrence following surgery for colorectal cancer: five-year follow-up

Ashok Gunawardene  1 , Brendan Desmond  2 , Ali Shekouh  2 , Peter Larsen  3 , Elizabeth Dennett  4
Affiliations
  • PMID: 29389929

Disease recurrence following surgery for colorectal cancer: five-year follow-up

Ashok Gunawardene et al. N Z Med J. .

Abstract

Aim: To describe the patterns of recurrence in a contemporaneous cohort of patients undergoing surgery with curative intent for colorectal adenocarcinoma at a New Zealand hospital with five-year follow-up.

Methods: Patients with colorectal cancer undergoing potentially curative surgery between January 2010 and December 2012 were followed up for a median of 61 months with three-monthly CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen), a colonoscopy after one year and yearly computed tomography scans of the chest, abdomen and pelvis for the first three years.

Results: Overall, 59/237 (24.9%) of patients experienced disease recurrence, the most common sites being the liver, followed by the lung and local recurrence. Recurrence rates did not differ significantly between colon and rectal cancer and ranged from 5.1% in stage I to 60% in stage IV. Seventy-three percent of all recurrences were observed within the first 24 months post-operatively.

Conclusion: While New Zealand outcomes in colorectal cancer have historically compared unfavourably against international standards, the outcomes observed in this cohort are encouraging and may reflect advances in care, including multidisciplinary team discussion, increased use of adjuvant therapy, surgical subspecialisation and protocolled surveillance and follow-up.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr Gunawardene reports grants from Wellington Surgical Research Trust, Phil & Teds, outside the submitted work. Dr Larsen reports grants from Wellington Medical Research Foundation, Lotteries Health Research, University of Otago Research Grant, outside the submitted work.

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