Surgical and oncological outcomes in transverse colon carcinoma: does tumor sublocation make a difference?

Transverse colon carcinomas are often treated as a single entity in medical literature, despite differences in embryology, anatomy, physiology, genetics, and surgical treatment. We hypothesized that tumor sublocation affects demographics, oncological, surgical and quality of life outcomes.

A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent surgery for transverse colon carcinomas between 2000 and 2018 was conducted. Tumor localization was determined by operative, pathological and imaging reports, and procedures were defined by the extent of vascular resection.

The study included 273 patients aged 69 years (SD 12.3), of whom 44% were female. The BMI was 28.8 kg/m² (SD 6.2), and 61% were ASA class 3. Carcinomas were in the proximal (22%), the mid (42%), and the distal transverse colon (36%). Mid-transverse carcinomas exhibited the highest prevalence among female patients (53% vs. 35% proximal vs. 39% distal, p < 0.03). Proximal transverse carcinomas presented with a higher proportion of pathological stage II than mid and distal transverse carcinomas (68.3% vs. proximal vs. 44.3% mid-vs. 49% distal, p = 0.006). On multivariate analysis, anemia was more likely in mid than proximal (p = 0.009) and distal (p = 0.002) transverse colon cancers. Obstruction occurred more often in proximal than mid (p = 0.003), and hematochezia in distal than in mid (p < 0.001) and proximal (p = 0.014) transverse colon carcinomas. The 30-day mortality and morbidity and 5-year overall and disease-free survival rates were similar between the tumor sublocations.

Sublocations of the transverse colon carcinomas affect the symptoms of patients. Tumor sublocation does not impact the intraoperative, postoperative, or oncological outcomes and quality of life.