Right and left colon carcinoma: a retrospective comparative study

We studied 347 patients with primary colorectal carcinoma treated by surgery during 1973-1983: 64 (18.2%) with right colon carcinoma, 158 (45.7%) with left colon carcinoma, 14 (4.2%) with transverse colon carcinoma, and 110 (31.9%) with rectal carcinoma. We compared the right-sided carcinoma (RSC) and left-sided carcinoma (LSC) groups. Obstruction was found in 17.2% of RSC compared with 20.3% LSC patients (P greater than 0.05). Advanced disease (Dukes stages C and D) was found in 34.4% on the right and 47.8% on the left side (P = 0.01). Crude 5-year survival rate, by life table method, was 71% on the right and 66% on the left side (P greater than 0.05); this difference became significant (P = 0.03) when Dukes stage B patients were compared. We conclude that patients with RSC are not diagnosed, as is commonly believed, at advanced stages of the disease. We found that the 5-year survival rate of RSC patients was the same or, occasionally, better than that of LSC patients.