Evaluating the effect of tumor size and sidedness on prognosis in stage 2 colon cancer: a retrospective population study

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of tumor size and tumor sidedness on prognosis in patients with stage 2 colon cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data of 501 patients diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer were evaluated retrospectively. It was evaluated whether the patients’ age, gender, tumor differentiation, tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage, overall survival rate, and disease-free survival rate had any correlation with horizontal tumor diameter and tumor sidedness. In the ROC analysis performed to determine the cut-off value for the tumor diameter, which we think will predict survival, no significant results were obtained with maximum sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, the median value of the tumor diameter, which is 5 cm, was accepted as the cut-off value. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis were used for survival analysis and determination of prognostic factors. RESULTS: When the patients were evaluated in terms of tumor localization, 189 (37.7%) patients had right colon tumors and 312 (62.3%) patients had left colon tumors. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of disease-free survival and overall survival according to tumor localization. When the patients were analyzed by dividing them into two groups according to the horizontal tumor size (<5 cm and ≥5 cm), no statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) p=0.085, p=0.699, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the management of patients with stage 2 colon cancer requires a better understanding of tumor biology rather than features such as tumor size and localization.