title: Clinical outcomes of laparoscopic surgery for transverse and descending colon cancers in a community setting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The feasibility, safety and oncological outcomes of laparoscopic surgery for transverse and descending colon cancers in a community hospital setting were evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-six patients with transverse or descending colon cancers who underwent laparoscopic surgery at our hospital were included in this retrospective analysis (group A). Their outcomes were compared with those of 71 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer at other tumor sites (group B).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of operative time, estimated blood loss, postoperative hospital stay and morbidity rate. Extended lymphadenectomy was performed more frequently and the number of harvested lymph nodes was significantly higher in group B than in group A. However, no recurrence developed in group A, while recurrence occurred in four patients from group B. The 3-year disease-free survival rates were 100% for group A and 93.5% for group B. The 3-year overall survival rates were 100% for group A and 91.6% for group B.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Laparoscopic surgery for transverse and descending colon cancers can be performed safely with oncological validity in a community hospital setting, provided there is careful selection of the patients and adequate lymphadenectomy considering the clinical stage of their disease.
authors: Department of Surgery, Seirei Mikatahara General Hospital, Hamamatsu, Japan. t-matsuda@sis.seirei.or.jp
authors: Takeru
authors: T
authors: Matsuda
authors: Hirofumi
authors: H
authors: Fujita
authors: Yukihiro
authors: Y
authors: Kunimoto
authors: Taisei
authors: T
authors: Kimura
authors: Tomomi
authors: T
authors: Hayashi
authors: Toshiyuki
authors: T
authors: Maeda
authors: Junichi
authors: J
authors: Yamakawa
authors: Takuya
authors: T
authors: Mizumoto
authors: Kazunori
authors: K
authors: Ogino
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044683:Colon, Descending; D044684:Colon, Transverse; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D007902:Length of Stay; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Community hospital; descending colon cancer; transverse colon cancer