Survival of patients with colorectal cancer in a cancer center

Abstract

Background – Hospital-based studies recently have shown increases in colorectal cancer survival, and better survival for women, young people, and patients diagnosed at an early disease stage. Objective – To describe the overall survival and analyze the prognostic factors of patients treated for colorectal cancer at an oncology center. Methods – The analysis included patients diagnosed with colon and rectal adenocarcinoma between 2000 and 2013 and identified in the Hospital Cancer Registry at A.C.Camargo Cancer Center. Overall 5-year survival was estimated using the Ka-plan-Meier method, and prognostic factors were evaluated in a Cox regression model. Hazard ratios (HR) are reported with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results – Of 2,279 colorectal cancer cases analyzed, 58.4% were in the colon. The 5-year overall survival rate for colorectal cancer patients was 63.5% (65.6% and 60.6% for colonic and rectal malignancies, respectively). The risk of death was elevated for patients in the 50–74-year (HR=1.24, 95%CI =1.02–1.51) and ≥75-year (HR=3.02, 95%CI =2.42–3.78) age groups, for patients with rectal cancer (HR=1.37, 95%CI =1.11–1.69) and for those whose treatment was started >60 days after diagnosis (HR=1.22, 95%CI =1.04–1.43). The risk decreased for patients diagnosed in recent time periods (2005–2009 HR=0.76, 95%CI =0.63–0.91; 2010–2013 HR=0.69, 95%CI =0.57–0.83). Conclusion – Better survival of patients with colorectal cancer improves with early stage and started treatment within 60 days of diagnosis. Age over 70 years old was an independent factor predictive of a poor prognosis. The overall survival increased to all patients treated in the period 2000–2004 to 2010–2013.