Abstract
Background and objectives: When resecting colon adenocarcinoma, surgeons decide between the use of laparoscopically assisted and open surgery. Laparoscopic resection is known to have short-term benefits over an open operation. However, researchers are not as unified about the long-term findings. The aim of this research is to elaborate on five-year post-operative differences in survival and cancer recurrence between these two different approaches. Materials and methods: 74 enrolled patients were evaluated five years after a primary operation. We collected dates of deaths of deceased patients and time after operation of possible recurrences. Carcinoma staging was done by a pathologist after operation. Blood samples were taken before surgery in order to measure tumor markers (CA19-9 and CEA). Results: Survival after colonic adenocarcinoma surgery did not differ between the two different surgical approaches (p = 0.151). Recurrence of cancer was not associated with the type of operation (p = 0.532). Patients with recurrence had a 37.6 times greater hazard ratio of dying (95% CI: [12.0, 118]; p < 0.001). Advanced age adversely affected survival: patients aged <65 and 65 years had a 97%, and 57% survival rate, respectively. Patients with elevated tumor markers at operation had a 19.1 greater hazard ratio of dying (95% CI: [5.16, 70.4]; p<0.001). Patients with different TNM stages did not have any statistically significant differences in survival (HR(II) = 2.49; 95% CI: [0.67, 9.30]; p(II) = 0.173) (HR(III) = 2.18; 95% CI: [0.58, 8.12]; p(III) = 0.246) or recurrence (p = 0.097). Conclusion: The obtained results suggest that laparoscopic resection of colon cancer is not inferior from an oncologic point of view and results in a similar long-term survival and disease-free interval. Recurrence of carcinoma, older age at initial operation and elevated tumor markers, above a pre-set threshold at operation, were found to be independent factors of lower survival. We believe that the obtained results will be of benefit when choosing treatment for colon adenocarcinoma.