Original scientific paper
Evaluation of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients with Colorectal Cancer in Primorsko-goranska and Istarska County – A Twenty Years Retrospective Study
Ingrid Belac-Lovasić
Marija Petković
Ani Mihaljević Ferrari
Franjo Lovasić
Harry Grbas
Abstract
Colorectal cancer is the second most common malignant disease in developed countries, with about one million new
cases worldwide every year, accompanied with high mortality rate. We examined the survival rate and recurrence (occurrence
of distant metastases and/or local recurrence) of patients with colorectal cancer in Primorsko-Goranska and Istarska
County who received adjuvant chemotherapy, compared to those who did not in the period since 1980. until 1999.
This study involves 483 patients with colorectal cancer stages II and III of Primorsko-Goranska and Istarska County,
which were underwent curative resections of colorectal cancer at the Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka, and then treated
with chemotherapy (288) or without Chemotherapy (195). We analyzed the five year survival rate and the recurrence of
malignant disease in the adjuvant treatment group in comparison with not treated group with chemotherapy, depending
on the stage of disease, degree of histological differentiation, patient age and location of cancer (colon or rectum). After
follow-up of 60 months died 44.79% (129/288) of patients who received chemotherapy and 53.33% (104/195) of patients
who did not receive chemotherapy. The relative risk of death (from any cause) in chemotherapy-treated group versus the
group without chemotherapy was 0.82 (p<0.008). Recurrence of malignant disease in the chemotherapy group was
38.54% (111/288), and in the group without chemotherapy was 46.15% (90/195). The relative risk of recurrence of malignant
disease in the chemotherapy group versus the group without chemotherapy was 0.78 (p<0.001). There was no difference
in treatment efficacy regard to the localization of the tumor, but there were differences in efficiency with respect to
disease stage, grade and age. Chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil and leukovorin ameliorate the survival and reduces recurrence
and distant metastases in patients with colorectal cancer stages II and III.
Keywords
adjuvant chemotherapy; colorectal cancer; five-year survival rate; Istarska County; Primorsko-Goranska County
Hrčak ID:
72247
URI
Publication date:
25.9.2011.
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