[Adjuvant chemotherapy in colon cancer. About 119 cases]

colon cancer is a public health problem worldwide and in Tunisia. The prognosis of patients with unresectable colorectal cancer varies according to the stage. The indication for adjuvant chemotherapy is well established in the colon cancer stage III, while it remains a matter of controversy for stage II. The aim of this work is to identify the epidemiological and anatomoclinical assess therapeutic outcomes in terms of overall survival of patients with high-risk stage II and stage III colon cancer treated with surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy.

DS: It's a retrospective study based on 119 patients with colon adenocarcinoma from 1996 to 2010. This patients suffering from colon cancer classified stage II and III having them all radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy.

The average age of our patients was 53 years. The surgery was performed in an emergency situation in 53 patients (44%). Stages II and III, respectively, were observed in 47% and 53% of cases. Three regimens of chemotherapy were used: protocol FUFOL (50%), followed by FOLFOX (34%) and the protocol LV5FU2 (16%). Overall survival of patients all stages combined was 73.4% at 5 years. Stage III of the TNM classification (p = 0.03) and the number of cycles of chemotherapy <6 (p=0.02) were a negative prognostic factors influencing overall survival. Patients stage III treated with FOLFOX chemotherapy type had a better survival than those treated with chemotherapy type LV5FU2 or FUFOL with a significant difference (p= 0.05).

Our results are consistent with those in the literature. The prognosis of colon cancer is improving thanks to recent advances that have enabled the integration of new cytogenetic factors in the therapeutic decision.