Prognostic value of the Jass histopathologic classification in left colon and rectal cancer: a multivariate analysis

Variables correlated to survival were studied in 121 patients who had undergone potentially curative surgery for left colon and rectal cancer. To investigate the prognostic value of the parameters both univariate and multivariate analysis were carried out. Minimum follow-up was 5 years. Multivariate analysis showed that while disease stage (p less than 0.0001) and site of primary tumor (p less than 0.0006) independently influenced survival, type of surgical procedure and histopathologic grade had no impact on survival. Jass histopathologic classification predicted survival for patient group I and IV whereas no significant relationship was observed for group II and III, which, in our series, were the most frequently encountered groups. Of the three parameters considered for Jass classification, tubule configuration, pattern of tumor growth and lymphocytic infiltration, only the latter was significantly correlated to survival (p less than 0.005). Different results were obtained when the prognostic values of Jass group was investigated separately for the 49 patients with adenocarcinoma of the left colon and the 72 patients with rectal cancer. Further investigation is required before routine clinical application of the Jass classification can be recommended.