Prognosis of colorectal cancer: clinical, pathological and therapeutic correlation

Significant progress in the knowledge of carcinogenesis and natural history of colorectal carcinoma (CRC), especially in polyp-cancer sequention and time for transition, are important prerequisites for a new approach to diagnosis. Surgical resection is the mainstay therapy for colorectal cancer, and pathologic assessment of the resected specimen provides data for assessment of outcome and rationale for adjuvant therapy. A pathology report includes TNM stage, tumor type, histologic grade, status of resection margins, and vascular invasion.

The purpose of this paper was to highlight the pathological features and their correlations with postoperative evolution and prognosis of this cancer.

Data was collected using the database system of the Emergency County Hospital of Craiova, Romania. A total of 302 patients from January 2003 to December 2005 were included.

The average survival for the entire group was 44.35 ± 28.94 months, and the D'Agostino-Pearson test for batch distribution showed abnormal distribution with two peaks, separated by a group of five patients who survived between 37 and 8 months. Fifty-one (38.05%) patients presented a median survival of 73.54 ± 10.47 months.

Factors that contribute to a favorable prognosis in CRC are vegetant gross tumors and papillary microscopic forms, G1 and G2 degree of differentiation and disease diagnosed in stages I and II.