title: Peritoneal involvement in stage II colon cancer.
abstract: A pathologist (K.S.) reviewed histologic slides for peritoneal involvement by tumor cells for 118 patients with stage II colon cancer. Patients were followed up for a median of 6 years. Tumor cells were found free in the peritoneal space in 16 cases (13.6%). The presence of cancer cells free in the peritoneal space was associated with lymphovascular invasion (P = .001) and neural invasion (P < .001). The overall 5-year survival was 80% in the patient population, but was 39% and 86% for those with and without tumor cells free in the peritoneal space, respectively (P < .0001). Multivariate analysis confirmed that free tumor cells within the peritoneal space (P < .0001) and lymphovascular invasion (P = .007) were related independently to outcome. Peritoneal involvement with tumor cells free in the peritoneal space in stage II colon cancer is a powerful indicator of outcome; patients have a survival similar to that for patients with stage III disease.
authors.affiliation: Center for Colorectal Disease, St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Lennon
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Mulcahy
authors.forename: J M P
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hyland
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lowry
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fennelly
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: O'Donoghue
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sheahan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010534:Peritoneal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate