Abstract
BACKGROUND: No study has reported the risk factors associated with the prognosis of patients with transverse colon cancer. Therefore, we aimed to demonstrate the long-term outcomes of transverse colon cancer patients undergoing radical surgery and explore the prognostic factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The clinical data of a total of 366 patients with transverse colon cancer staged from I to IIIC undergoing radical surgery from February 1992 to May 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Clinicopathological features were recorded, and univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to evaluate the association between the factors and overall survival (OS) as well as disease-free survival (DFS). Kaplan-Meier curves were generated to assess the association between TNM stage and OS and DFS, respectively. RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 62 months, and the 5-year OS and DFS rates were 87.5% and 86.5%, respectively. In addition, a significant difference was also found in the OS and DFS curves according to TNM stage. The N classification, vascular invasion, differentiation, preoperative CA199, preoperative CA125 and preoperative AFP were significantly associated with OS according to univariate analysis, while N classification and differentiation were independent prognostic factors for OS according to multivariate analysis (both P < 0.05). Similarly, N classification, vascular invasion, differentiation, preoperative CA199, preoperative CA125, and preoperative AFP were statistically correlated with DFS according to univariate analysis, while N classification and preoperative CA199 were independent prognostic factors for DFS according to multivariate analysis (both P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: N classification was an independent factor for both OS and DFS, while differentiation and CA199 were independent prognostic factors only for OS and DFS, respectively.