Surgical treatment of colorectal cancer in patients aged over 80 years

The aim of this study was to identify the clinical factors and tumour characteristics that predict the outcome in patients older than 80 years with colorectal cancer.

One hundred and four patients with colorectal cancer aged over 80 years were identified from a computer database, and their clinical variables were analysed by both univariate and multivariate analyses.

All 104 patients underwent resective surgery, 87% radical and 13% palliative resection. Postoperative mortality was 5%, being associated with a number of coexisting diseases and the presence of postoperative complications, especially anastomotic leakage. The cumulative 5-year survival was 33%, the median survival was 31 months and the cancer-specific 5-year survival was 36%. The recurrence rate after radical surgery was 30%, being 13%, 25%, 44% and 100% in the Union for International Cancer Control stages I, II, III and IV. Kaplan-Meier estimates indicated that age, number of underlying diseases, radicality of operation, Dukes' staging, size of tumour, number of lymph node metastasis, metastasised disease, venous invasion and recurrent disease were significant predictors of survival, but in the Cox regression model, only venous invasion was an independent prognostic factor of survival.

Low mortality and acceptable survival can be achieved even in very elderly patients with colorectal cancer. Venous invasion is an independent predictor of survival.