Study: Colorectal Cancer Deaths Within 30 Days of Surgery Decrease Dramatically

The number of French colorectal cancer patients who died within 30 days following surgery decreased dramatically between the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s, according to a report in the British Journal of Surgery.

The researchers said that in an effort to determine trends in operative mortality after colorectal cancer surgery and consequences on overall survival, they examined some 4,745 new cases of colorectal cancer registered between 1976 and 1995 in a French region containing 500,000 people.

The overall operative mortality rate, defined as death within 30 days of the operation, decreased from 17.7 percent in the 1976-1979 period to 8.1 per cent in the 1992-1995 period.

They said had the operative mortality rate in the 1990s been the same as in the 1970s, the expected 5-year survival rate for colorectal cancer patients after curative surgery in the 1990s would have been 40.0 percent compared with the actual rate of 51.0 percent.

" This corresponds to a 27.5 percent improvement improvement in 5-year overall survival," the researchers said.

"Operative mortality decreased dramatically over the 20 years of the study. It was associated with a significant improvement in survival after surgery for cure," the researchers concluded.

Other Sources: British Journal of Surgery