Purpose: Many studies have shown that the completion of adjuvant chemotherapy improves the survival rate. Recently, laparoscopic surgery has been used to treat patients with colon cancer. We analyzed the relationship between the completion of adjuvant chemotherapy and the operation method.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 147 patients diagnosed with colon cancer from January 1, 2009, to May 31, 2012. The numbers of patients who underwent laparoscopic and open surgery were 91 and 56, respectively. We analyzed the relationship between the operation method and various factors such as the completion rate of chemotherapy, the patient's age, gender, and physical activity, the postoperative hospital stay, the start time of chemotherapy, and the patient's body mass index (BMI), TNM stage, and type of health insurance.
Results: In the laparoscopic surgery group, the postoperative hospital stay (13.5 ± 14.82 days vs. 19.6 ± 11.38 days, P = 0.001) and start time of chemotherapy (17.7 ± 17.48 days vs. 23.0 ± 15.00 days, P = 0.044) were shorter, but the percent complete of chemotherapy (71/91 [78.0%] vs. 38/56 [67.8%], P = 0.121), and survival rate (88/91 [96.7%], 47/56 [83.9%], P = 0.007) were higher than they were in the open surgery group. Patients who were elderly, had a low BMI, and a high American Society of Anesthesiologists score were less likely to complete adjuvant chemotherapy than other patients were.
Conclusion: Laparoscopic surgery shows a shorter postoperative hospital stay, a shorter start time of chemotherapy, and a higher survival rate. Laparoscopic surgery may be expected to increase compliance of chemotherapy and to improve survival rate.
Keywords: Adjuvant chemotherapy; Colon neoplasms; Laparoscopy; Percent complete.