Long-term outcomes after endoscopic submucosal dissection for colorectal epithelial neoplasms in patients with severe...

Long-term outcomes after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for colorectal epithelial neoplasms (CENs) in patients with severe comorbidities have not been clarified; the current study aimed to examine these long-term outcomes and compared them with those in patients with non-severe comorbidities.

We included 231 patients with CENs who underwent ESD between April 2005 and March 2023. Patients with comorbidities were categorized according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status (ASA-PS). We conducted a propensity score-matched analysis and compared long-term outcomes of the two groups after ESD for CENs.

Of the 156 patients enrolled in the study, 43 and 113 had severe (ASA-PS III) and non-severe (ASA-PS I/II) comorbidities, respectively. The 1:1 propensity score analysis matched 36 patients with severe comorbidities to 36 patients with non-severe comorbidities. After matching, there was no difference in the procedural outcomes of ESD between both groups. Regarding long-term outcomes, the 5-year overall survival rates after matching in the ASA-PS I/II and III groups were 100% and 73.5%, respectively, and patients in the ASA-PS III group exhibited significantly shorter overall survival than those in the ASA-PS I/II group (hazard ratio 7.209; 95% confidence interval 1.592-32.646; P = 0.010). No colorectal cancer-related deaths were noted in either group.

Overall survival after ESD for CENs was shorter in patients with severe comorbidities than in those with non-severe comorbidities. Clinicians should carefully determine whether the benefits of CEN resection with ESD outweigh the procedural risks in patients with severe comorbidities.