To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Watch and Wait After Neoadjuvant Therapy for Colorectal Cancer: Presented at ACS URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/22EFAA.htm Doctor's Guide October 17, 2008
By Roberta Friedman, PhD SAN FRANCISCO -- October 17, 2008 -- Delaying surgery for patients with colorectal cancer who have no evidence of disease after neoadjuvant therapy does not affect survival, according to findings from a study presented here at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) 94th Annual Clinical Congress. Rodrigo Perez, MD, Digestive Surgery, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, presented the findings on October 16. Of 435 patients a mean age of 59 years who received radiation 50.4 Gy and chemotherapy consisting of 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin, 152 patients did not receive immediate surgery. Of these patients, 120 had no residual disease for at least 8 weeks and for up to 12 months after receiving treatment. Monthly evaluations included proctoscopy. At the 5-year (mean, 66 months) evaluation, 11 patients (9%) had local recurrence and 10 (8%) had systemic disease. All local recurrences could be successfully treated by surgery. Five-year overall survival (OS) was 92%, and disease-free survival (DFS) was 82%. In patients with stage I disease, OS was 87% and DFS was 73%; for stage II disease, OS was 77% and DFS was 43%; for stage III disease, OS was 63% and DFS was 33%. The difference was significant (P < .001). Dr. Perez said that this watch-and-wait strategy may spare 27% of patients from unnecessary aggressive surgical procedures. "We were not harming patients by delaying detection of disease," he added. Patients are currently imaged with positron emission tomography-computed tomography, he said, and "when it is negative, we are pretty sure that [residual disease] is not there." [Presentation title: Watch and Wait Strategy for Distal Rectal Cancer After Neoadjuvant CRT: A Single Institution's Experience of 15 Years in Complete Tumor Regression Without Surgery. Abstract S20] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.