Brief Article
Copyright ©2010 Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 21, 2010; 16(7): 862-867
Published online Feb 21, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i7.862
Colorectal cancer prognosis twenty years later
Luis Bujanda, Cristina Sarasqueta, Elisabeth Hijona, Lander Hijona, Angel Cosme, Ines Gil, Jose Luis Elorza, Jose I Asensio, Santiago Larburu, José M Enríquez-Navascués, Rodrigo Jover, Francesc Balaguer, Xavier Llor, Xavier Bessa, Montserrat Andreu, Artemio Paya, Antoni Castells, Gastrointestinal Oncology Group of the Spanish Gastroenterological Association
Luis Bujanda, Elisabeth Hijona, Lander Hijona, Angel Cosme, Ines Gil, Department of Gastroenterology, Donostia Hospital, University of Basque Country, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), 20014 San Sebastián, Spain
Cristina Sarasqueta, Department of Epidemiology, Donostia Hospital, CIBERESP, 20014 San Sebastián, Spain
Jose Luis Elorza, Jose I Asensio, Santiago Larburu, José M Enríquez-Navascués, Department of Surgery, Donostia Hospital, 20014 San Sebastián, Spain
Rodrigo Jover, Antoni Castells, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital, 03010 Alicante, Spain
Francesc Balaguer, Artemio Paya, Department of Gastroenterology, Clinic Hospital, CIBEREHD, IDIBAPS, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
Xavier Llor, Digestive Diseases and Nutrition Secion, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
Xavier Bessa, Montserrat Andreu, Department of Gastroenterology, Del Mar Hospital, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Gastrointestinal Oncology Group of the Spanish Gastroenterological Association, Principal investigators in the EPICOLON Group are listed in the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Author contributions: Bujanda L and Hijona L participated in the experimental design and writing of the manuscript; Sarasqueta C performed data analysis and interpretation of results; Hijona L, Cosme A, Gil I, Elorza JL, Asensio JI, Larburu S, Enríquez-Navascués JM, Jover R, Balaguer F, Llor X, Bessa X, Andreu M, Paya A and Castells A collected and supplied the clinical data of the patients; Study organization and investigators from the Gastrointestinal Oncology Group of the Spanish Gastroenterological Association participated in the study. All authors have critically reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version.
Supported by CIBEREHD is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Correspondence to: Luis Bujanda, Professor, Departament of Gastroenterology, CIBEREHD, University of Country Basque, Donostia Hospital, Avda. Sancho El Sabio, 17-2ºD, 20010 San Sebastián, Spain. medik@telefonica.net
Telephone: +34-943007173 Fax: +34-943471922
Received: July 28, 2009
Revised: October 2, 2009
Accepted: October 9, 2009
Published online: February 21, 2010
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate changes in colorectal cancer (CRC) survival over the last 20 years.

METHODS: We compared two groups of consecutive CRC patients that were prospectively recruited: Group I included 1990 patients diagnosed between 1980 and 1994. Group II included 871 patients diagnosed in 2001.

RESULTS: The average follow up time was 21 mo (1-229) for Group I and 50 mo (1-73.4) for Group II. Overall median survival was significantly longer in Group II than in Group I (73 mo vs 25 mo, P < 0.001) and the difference was significant for all tumor stages. Post surgical mortality was 8% for Group Iand 2% for Group II (P < 0.001). Only 17% of GroupI patients received chemotherapy compared with 50% of Group II patients (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: Survival in colorectal cancer patients has doubled over the past 20 years. This increase seems to be partly due to the generalization in the administration of chemotherapy and to the decrease of post surgical mortality.

Keywords: Colon cancer; Prognosis; Survival; Chemotherapy; Surgery