No abstract

The average age of the patients was older (median of 69 for men, 72 for women) with more far metastases than in comparable groups reported by German university surgical departments. Only 4.6% of the group had occult blood in the stool as the only symptom. Most of the patients had local or regional metastases (T3-4: 63.9%; N1-3: 41%, respectively). Operations intended to be curative were possible in only 65.9% of the cohort. Adjuvant radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy was given to 11.7%, using current consensus recommendations.