The long-term results of a randomized clinical trial of laparoscopy-assisted versus open surgery for colon cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to compare the long-term outcome of laparoscopy-assisted colectomy (LAC) and open colectomy (OC) for nonmetastatic colon cancer.


METHODS
From November 1993 to July 1998 all patients with adenocarcinoma of the colon were assessed for entry in this single center, clinically randomized trial. Adjuvant therapy and postoperative follow-up were similar in both groups. The primary endpoint was cancer-related survival and secondary endpoints were probability of overall survival and probability of being free of recurrence. Data were analyzed according the intention-to-treat principle.


RESULTS
Two hundred and nineteen patients entered the study (111 LAC group and 108 OC group). The median follow-up was 95 months (range, 77-133). There was a tendency of higher cancer-related survival (P = 0.07, NS) and overall survival (P = 0.06, NS) for the LAC group. Probability of cancer-related survival was higher in the LAC group (P = 0.02) when compared with OC. The regression analysis showed that LAC was independently associated with a reduced risk of tumor relapse (hazard ratio 0.47, 95% CI 0.23-0.94), death from a cancer-related cause (0.44, 0.21-0.92) and death from any cause (0.59, 0.35-0.98).


CONCLUSIONS
LAC is more effective than OC in the treatment of colon cancer.
Lacy
Antonio M
AM
Department of Surgery, Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas Esther Koplowitz, IMDiM, IDIBAPS, Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Spain. alacy@clinic.ub.es
Delgado
Salvadora
S
Castells
Antoni
A
Prins
Hubert A
HA
Arroyo
Vicente
V
Ibarzabal
Ainitze
A
Pique
Josep M
JM
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003082:Colectomy / Q000379:methods*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology; D009366:Neoplasm Seeding; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome