Background and objective: Neoadjuvant therapy could improve oncological outcome of patients suffering from colon cancer. An accurate staging method is needed to define suitable patients. The aim of this retrospective study was to validate the value of CT for identifying patients with local advanced (T3/4) or nodal-positive colon cancer.
Methods and material: Preoperative abdominal CT scans of 210 patients with colon cancer were evaluated by two radiologists independently for the T stage and N stage. Results were compared to pathology. Patients were stratified according to the guidelines for rectal cancer into patients with low risk (T0/1/2 and N0) or high risk (T3/4 or N+).
Results: Inter-observer correlation was high with over 90 %. Overall sensitivity T stage was 93.0 % and for N stage 76.9 %. Using CT scan to identify local advanced (T3/4 or N+) tumors, the consensus sensitivity was 94.9 %, the specificity 53.6 %, the positive predictive value (PPV) 92.8 %, and the negative predictive value (NPV) 62.5 %.
Conclusion: Computer tomography represents an effective tool for identifying patients with colon cancer suitable for neoadjuvant therapy according to the guidelines for rectal cancer.