BackgroundThe aim of this study was to determine influence of prognostic factors in addition to UICC staging systems, on cancer-specific and overall survival rates for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) undergoing surgical treatment.MethodsBetween January 1996 and December 2006, a total of 1367 CRC patients who underwent surgical treatment in Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital were analyzed. We retrospectively investigated clinicopathologic features of these patients. All patients were followed up intensively, and their outcomes were investigated completely.ResultsOf 1367 CRC patients, there were seven hundred and fifty-seven males (55.4%) and 610 (44.6%) females. The median follow-up period was 60 months (range, 3–132 months). A multivariate analysis identified that low serum albumin level (P = 0.011), advanced UICC stage (P < 0.001), and high carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level (P < 0.001) were independent prognostic factors of cancer-specific survival. Meanwhile, a multivariate analysis showed age over 65 years (P < 0.001), advanced UICC stage (P < 0.001), and high CEA level (P < 0.001) were independent prognostic factors of overall survival. Furthermore, combination of UICC stage, serum CEA and albumin levels as predictors of cancer-specific survival showed that the poorer the prognostic factors involved, the poorer the cancer-specific survival rate. Likewise, combination of UICC stage, age and serum CEA level as predictors of overall survival showed that the poorer the prognostic factors involved, the poorer the overall survival rate. Of these prognostic factors, preoperative serum CEA level was the only significant prognostic factor for patients with stage II and III CRCs in both cancer-specific and overall survival categories.ConclusionPreoperative serum albumin level, CEA level and age could prominently affect postoperative outcome of CRC patients undergoing surgical treatment. In addition to conventional UICC staging system, it might be imperative to take these additional characteristics of factors into account in CRC patients prior to surgical treatment.

composite IVFE was comparable with conventional LCT/MCT IVFE in efficacy, safety, tolerance, and clinical outcomes in surgical GI tumor patients.

BackgroundA lipid emulsion composed of soybean oil (long-chain triglycerides, LCT), medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) and n-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) was evaluated for immune-modulation efficacy, safety, and tolerance in patients undergoing major surgery for gastric and colorectal cancer.MethodsIn a prospective, randomized, double-blind study, 99 patients with gastric and colorectal cancer receiving elective surgery were recruited and randomly assigned to either the study group, receiving the n-3 PUFAs enriched intravenous fat emulsion (IVFE), or the control group, receiving a lipid emulsion comprised of soybean oil and MCTs (0.8 – 1.5 g · kg-1 · day-1) as part of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) regimen from surgery (day -1) up to post-operative day 7. Safety and efficacy parameters were assessed on day -1 and post-operative visits on day 1, 3, and 7. Adverse events were documented daily and compared between the groups.ResultsPro-inflammatory markers, laboratory parameters, and adverse events did not differ prominently between the 2 groups, with the exception of net changes (day 7 minus day -1) of free fatty acids (FFAs), triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Net decrease of FFAs was remarkably higher in the study group, while the net increase of triglyceride and decrease of HDL was significantly lower.ConclusionsThe n-3 PUFA-enriched IVFE showed improvements in lipid metabolism. In respect of efficacy, safety and tolerance both IVFE were comparable. In patients with severe stress, there is an inflammation-attenuating effect of n-3 PUFAs. Further, adequately powered clinical trials will be necessary to address this question in postsurgical GI cancer patients.Trial registrationUS ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00798447.

BackgroundBoth colorectal cancer (CRC) and diabetes mellitus (DM) are important public health problems worldwide. As there are controversies about survival impact on CRC patients with preexisting DM, the purpose of the present study is to evaluate the incidence and the survival impact of preexisting DM on the long-term outcomes of patients with CRC in Taiwan.MethodsFrom January 2002 to December 2008, 1,197 consecutive patients with histologically proven primary CRC, who received surgical treatment at a single institution, were enrolled. The clinicopathologic features between these patients with and without DM were retrospectively investigated. Moreover, we intended to analyze the impact of DM on overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates.ResultsOf 1,197 CRC patients, 23.6% of patients had either a reported history of DM or were currently taking one or more diabetes-controlling medications. CRC patients with DM were significantly older than those without DM (P < 0.001), and had a higher incidence of cardiac disease and higher body mass index than those without DM (both P < 0.001). There were no significant differences in gender, tumor size, tumor location, histological type, AJCC/UICC cancer stage, vascular invasion, perineural invasion, comorbidity of pulmonary disease or renal disease, and OS, and CSS between two groups. Additionally, DM patients had a higher incidence of second malignancy than patients without DM (9.54% vs 6.01%, P = 0.040).ConclusionsA considerably high prevalence of DM in CRC patients but no significant impact of DM on survival was observed in the single-institution retrospective study, regardless of cancer stages and tumor locations. Therefore, treatment strategies for CRC patients with DM should be the same as patients without DM.