Obstructive colon cancers at endoscopy are associated with advanced tumor stage and poor patient outcome. A retrospective study on 398 patients

Background The detection of obstructive colorectal cancer (CRC) masses during endoscopic examination hindering the passage of endoscope and precluding complete examination is not uncommon. The significance and implications of this finding on patients’ prognosis and outcomes were not fully investigated and will be addressed in this study. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed endoscopy, surgery, pathology and oncology reports of patients diagnosed with CRC over a 10-year period (2007–2016). We compared surgical stages, histologic grades and overall survival between patients with subclinical obstructive tumors at endoscopy to those with nonobstructive tumors. We performed multivariate analysis to identify independent risk factors associated with advanced CRC stage at diagnosis. Results A total of 144 patients had obstructive colonic tumors while 254 had nonobstructive tumors and constituted the control group. Obstructive CRC group was significantly associated with advanced tumor stage at diagnosis (69 vs. 42%, OR = 3.018, 95% CI, 1.951–4.670; P 
Source: European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology - Category: Gastroenterology Tags: Original Articles: Gastroenterology Source Type: research