Surgery (Western Health) - Research Publications

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    The effect of smoking, obesity and diabetes on recurrence-free and overall survival in patients with stage III colon cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy
    Croese, A ; Gartrell, R ; Hiscock, R ; Lee, M ; Gibbs, P ; Faragher, I ; Yeung, J (WILEY, 2021-06)
    BACKGROUND: The association between smoking, diabetes and obesity and oncological outcomes in patients with stage III colon cancer treated with surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy is unclear. AIM: To evaluate whether smoking, obesity and diabetes are associated with the disease-free survival and overall survival rates of patients with stage III colon cancer who have received adjuvant chemotherapy. METHODS: Patients were selected from the prospectively maintained Australian Cancer Outcomes and Research Database (ACCORD). All stage III colon cancer patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy between January 2003 to December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The three primary exposures of interest were smoking status, body mass index (BMI) and diabetic (DM) status. The primary outcomes of interest were disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: A total of 785 patients between 2003 and 2015 were included for analysis. Using Kaplan-Meier survivorship curves, there was no association between OS and smoking (P = .71), BMI (P = .3) or DM (P = .72). Similarly, DFS did not reveal an association with smoking (P = .34), BMI (P = .2) and DM (P = .34). Controlling for other covariates the results did not reach statistical significance in adjusted multiple regression models. CONCLUSION: Smoking, obesity and DM were not shown to influence DFS or OS for patients with stage III colon cancer who have received adjuvant chemotherapy.
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    Positive lateral pelvic lymph nodes in low rectal cancer: should we change our practice now?
    Gartrell, R ; Hong, MK-Y ; Baker, A ; Master, M ; Gibbs, P ; Arslan, J ; Croxford, M ; Yeung, JM ; Faragher, IG (WILEY, 2021-05)
    BACKGROUND: The role of lateral lymph node dissection (LLND) in the treatment of patients with low rectal cancer with enlarged lateral lymph nodes (LLN+) is under investigation. Enthusiasm for LLND stems from a perceived reduction in local recurrence (LR). We aimed to compare the LR rate for LLN+ patients with LLN- patients, treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) and surgery, in a hospital that does not perform LLND. METHODS: A retrospective study of all patients with clinical stage 3 low rectal cancer who completed nCRT and surgery between 2008 and 2017 at Western Health was performed. Outcomes for LLN+ patients were compared with LLN- patients. The primary outcome was LR. Secondary outcomes included distant metastases, disease-free survival and overall survival. RESULTS: There were 110 patients treated for stage 3 low rectal cancer over 10 years. There was no significant difference in the LR rate, with one LR from 28 LLN+ patients and one LR from 82 LLN- patients (4% versus 1.2%, P = 0.44). There were no significant differences in median disease-free survival (41 versus 52 months, P = 0.19) or mean overall survival (62 versus 60 months, P = 0.80). Of all patients studied, 21% developed distant metastases. CONCLUSION: LR after nCRT and surgery in patients with stage 3 rectal cancer is rare, irrespective of lateral pelvic node status. These data, along with the uncertain benefit and known risks of LLND, supports the continued use of standard therapy in these patients. Strategies to address distant failure in these patients should be explored.