The necessity of chemotherapy in T3NOMO colon cancer without risk factors

BACKGROUND: For patients with T3NOMO colon cancer without known risk factors, the necessity of chemotherapy has no definite consensus. METHODS: From 1994 to 2004, we retrospectively analyzed 247 patients who had pathologically confirmed T3NOMO colon cancer without risk factors. RESULTS: Among the 247 patients, 198 (80.2%) received chemotherapy and 49 (19.8%) underwent surgery alone. The 5-year survival rate was 92.8% for patients with T3NOMO colon cancer without risk factors. Only chemotherapy increased survival (P = .032) by multivariate analysis. The 5-year survival rates were 85.4% in the surgery-only group and 94.2% in the group that received surgery with chemotherapy. There was no difference in the therapeutic efficacy of 5-fluorouracil, capecitabine, and uracil/tegafur (P = .424) for survival. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that chemotherapy improved the survival of patients with T3NOMO colon cancer without risk factors. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.