In a nutshell
This study investigated the prognostic differences between right-sided tumors (RT) and left-sided tumors (LT) in colon cancer patients. Researchers reported that RT have worse prognosis and survival than LT.
Some background
Tumors that are located on different sides of the colon can have different characteristics. LT and RT can have different genetic backgrounds and different symptoms. Prior studies described no significant difference in overall survival among different tumor locations. It is not known if different tumor locations and characteristics are related to different prognosis other than overall survival.
Methods & findings
The objective of this study was to investigate the differences in prognosis between RT and LT in colon cancer patients.
This study reviewed 15 other studies and included 108,474 patients. These studies compared the prognosis of colon cancer according to tumor location. Overall survival (OS; time from treatment to death by any cause) and cancer-specific survival (CSS; time from treatment to cancer-related death) were determined.
LT patients were 14% more likely to have a better OS. There was no significant difference in CSS.
The bottom line
This study showed that RT patients have a worse prognostic those LT patients in terms of OS.
Published By :
Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery
Date :
Nov 16, 2015
