The majority of patients with locally advanced colorectal cancer do not receive the extensive surgery to remove the cancer and adjacent tissues, a new study reports. This extensive surgery, called a multivisceral resection, is recommended by the National Cancer Institute and American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons because it reduces local recurrence and improves survival.

Calvin H.L. Law, M.D., F.R.C.S.C., of the University of Toronto, and colleagues identified 8,380 patients 18 years and older who received surgery for nonmetastatic, locally advanced colorectal cancer between 1988 and 2002. They used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry.

They found that only 33.3% of patients were treated with the recommended surgery. Patients given the recommended surgery had increased overall survival, compared to those given less extensive surgery.



Other highlights in the October 18 JNCI

Contact: Natalie Chung-Sayers

Note: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute is published by Oxford University Press and is not affiliated with the National Cancer Institute. Attribution to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute is requested in all news coverage. Visit the Journal online at jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals/

Contact: Ariel Whitworth
Journal of the National Cancer Institute