Laparoscopic Colorectal Cancer Resection in High-Volume Surgical Centers: Long-Term Outcomes from the LAPCOLON Group Trial.

BACKGROUND: Strong evidence has confirmed the benefit of laparoscopy in colorectal cancer resection but remains a challenging procedure. It is not clear that such promising results in selected patients translate into a favorable risk-benefit balance in real practice. We conducted a multicenter national observational registry to assess operative and oncologic long-term outcomes following laparoscopic colorectal cancer resection.

METHODS: All patients with laparoscopic colorectal cancer resection between 2001 and 2004 were included. Data were extracted from the prospective Italian national database of 10 high-volume centers (≥40 colorectal cancer laparoscopic resections per year). Surgical technique and follow-up were standardized. Survivals were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS: We reported 1832 patients with colon (58.5%) and rectal cancer (41.5%). TNM stage was 0-I-II in 1044 patients (57%) and III-IV in 788 patients (43%). Surgery included a totally laparoscopic procedure in 1820 patients (99.3%). Conversion was 10.5%. Postoperative morbidity and 30-day mortality rates were 17 and 1.2%, respectively. Clinical anastomotic leakage rate was 8.3% (n=152). R0 resection was 95%. With a median follow-up of 54.2 months, cancer recurrence rate was 13.3%. At 5 years, cancer-free survival was 86.7%. Upon multivariate analysis, age (P=0.001) and TNM stage (P<0.001) were associated with cancer-free survival. Predictive factors of cancer recurrence were gender (P=0.029) and TNM stage (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: In high-volume centers and non-selective patients, laparoscopic colorectal resection for cancer achieves good operative results with satisfactory long-term oncologic results. Even in the laparoscopy era, age, gender, and TNM stage remain the most powerful predictor of oncologic outcomes.