Improved Oncologic Outcomes Following Laparoscopic Surgery for Small T4 Colon Cancer : A Multi-center Comparative Study

Abstract Background: Laparoscopic surgery for T4 colon cancer may be safe in selected patients. Based on the theory that small tumor size might preoperatively predict a good laparoscopic surgery outcome, we herein compare the clinicopathologic and oncologic outcomes of open and laparoscopic surgery in small T4 colon cancer.Methods: In a retrospective multicenter study, we reviewed the data of 449 patients, including 117 patients with tumors ≤4 cm, who underwent T4 colon cancer surgery between January 2014 and December 2017. We compared the clinicopathologic and 3-year oncologic outcomes between the laparoscopic and open surgery groups.Results: Blood loss, length of hospital stay, and postoperative morbidity were lower in the laparoscopic group than in the open group (86 mL vs. 278 mL, p < 0.001; 10.0 days vs. 12.5 days, p = 0.003; and 18.0% vs. 29.5%, p = 0.005, respectively). There were no intergroup differences in overall survival (OS) and 3-year disease-free survival (DFS; 87.8% vs. 83.2%, p = 0.117; 69.5% vs. 68.1%, p = 0.408, respectively). Among patients with tumors of size ≤4 cm, blood loss was lower in the laparoscopic surgery group than in the open group (80 mL vs. 208 mL, p = 0.001); despite no statistical difference observed in the 3-year OS (84.4% vs 78.7%, p = 0.442), the laparoscopic group had a better 3-year DFS (73.8% vs. 46.0%, p = 0.004).Conclusions: Laparoscopic surgery showed similar outcomes to open surgery in T4 colon cancer patients, and may have favorable short-term oncologic outcomes in patients with small T4 tumors.