Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the therapeutic benefit of multivisceral resection (MVR) in patients with locally advanced colorectal carcinomas.
Methods: The study population was composed of 118 patients whose resection of the primary lesion included one or more adhesed adjacent secondary organs or structures (ASOS). Tumors were staged as B3 (T4,N0) and as C3 (T4,N1-3). Adhesions were classified as invasive (B3+,C3+) or inflammatory (B3-, C3-).
Results: Sixty-four patients were staged B3 and 54 C3. Eighty-one were classified B3+/C3+. Fifty-nine percent of patients had ASOS resected, 29% had two resected, and the remaining 12% had three or four resected. Actuarial 5-year survival rates were 62% and 38% (p = 0.017) for B3 and C3 lesions, respectively. The 5-year survival rates were 78% for patients with B3- tumors and 58% for those with B3+ tumors (p = 0.043), and 34% for patients with C3+ tumors and 64% for those with C3- tumors (p = NS). The 5-year survival rates were 71% for patients with B3-/C3- tumors and 47% for those with B3+/C3+ tumors (p = NS). The 5-year survival rates after resection of one ASOS, two ASOS, and three or four ASOS were 52%, 55%, and 38%, respectively (P = NS).
Conclusions: There is no statistically significant difference in the 5-year survival rates when multiple ASOS are resected; therefore, an aggressive surgical approach is warranted.