Patterns of failure following surgery alone for colorectal carcinoma.

Two hundred fifty-one patients with colorectal carcinoma were studied following complete primary resection to determine patterns of failure. Seventy-two patients (29%) subsequently developed failures: Local failure (LF) occurred as the only failure in 49% of the failure group and as some component in 81%; distant metastases (DM) occurred in 19% and 47%, respectively. The groups at highest risk for local failure were those with extension of tumor through the bowel wall whether the nodes were involved or not. Furthermore, those with gross extension of disease through the wall developed a significantly higher incidence of distant metastases compared to those with microscopic extension through the wall (P less than 0.005). The absolute 5-year survival rate for those with tumor through the wall vs within the wall was 40% and 79%, respectively. Adjuvant therapy was discussed in view of the ability to identify subgroups of patients at highest risk for local vs distant failures.