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The Article in Brief
Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Colon Cancer Recurrence: A Multicenter Cohort Study
Laura A. Duineveld , and colleagues
Background This study evaluates how recurrent colon cancer presents and is diagnosed during the first five post-operative years.
What This Study Found Among 446 patients treated for colon cancer with curative intent, 74 patients (17 percent) developed recurrent disease. Fifty-eight percent of recurrences were detected during scheduled follow-up visits with 95 percent of patients asymptomatic at the time of detection; forty-two percent of recurrences were found during non-scheduled interval visits, with 84 percent of patients presenting with well-known symptoms (abdominal pain, altered defecation, and weight loss). Patients with asymptomatic recurrences had a significantly higher overall survival rate compared with patients with symptomatic recurrences, which were more often multisite recurrences. Tumor marker testing, imaging and colonoscopy identified all of the recurrences.
Implications
- The authors conclude that primary care physicians who take care of colon cancer patients should be aware of the relatively high rate of symptomatic recurrences and typical presenting symptoms.