Background: Variability in colon cancer recurrence after laparoscopic colectomy (LAC) remains poorly understood. The aim of our study was to quantify the influence of LAC on colon cancer recurrence patterns.
Methods: We included 986 patients undergoing curative colectomy at our institution between 1992 and 2008. Kaplan-Meier, multivariable Cox regression, propensity score adjustment, and competing risks modeling were used to evaluate the influence of laparoscopic surgery on the site of colon cancer recurrence, including the following: liver metastasis, lung metastasis, local recurrence, peritoneal dissemination, other, and multiple sites. We estimated the risk factors for each recurrence site.
Results: Laparoscopic surgery was used in 419 (42.5 %) of 986 patients, with an overall median follow-up time of 5.0 years (interquartile range 3.5). The overall 5-year disease-free survival rate was 86.1 % (open surgery 81.8 % vs. laparoscopic surgery 92.0 %; p < 0.001). However, after covariates and propensity score adjustment, laparoscopic surgery was not a significant risk factor for each type of recurrence: liver hazard ratio (HR) 0.93 (95 % CI 0.45-1.89), p = 0.84; lung HR 0.67 (95 % CI 0.26-1.70), p = 0.39; local HR 0.56 (95 % CI 0.12-2.63), p = 0.46; peritoneal HR 2.49 (95 % CI 0.75-8.27), p = 0.14; others HR 0.47 (95 % CI 0.04-5.13), p = 0.53; multiple HR 0.88 (95 % CI 0.25-3.14), p = 0.84. The risk factors for each type of recurrence were variable and characterized by specific clinicopathological features.
Conclusion: Our study reveals that LAC and open colectomy demonstrate comparable overall colon cancer recurrence rates and recurrence sites. Specific clinicopathological characteristics may have a stronger influence on colon cancer recurrence site compared with the surgical technique.