Results of colon cancer surgery in patients over 75 years old

BackgroundColon cancer is the second most frequent cause of death in both genders. Survival has increased since 1980, although this increase has been lower in patients 75 years old. We analyzed the results of surgical treatment for this pathology in this group of patients. MethodsThis retrospective, observational and descriptive study analyzed data relating to 315 patients undergoing colon cancer surgery between January 2010 and December 2011. Surgical results (surgical procedure, mean postoperative stay, isolated lymph nodes, postoperative morbidity and mortality) were compared between patients who were <75 and 75 years old. ResultsStatistical significance was observed in the percentages of hypertension (P = 0.001), cardiovascular disease (P = 0.006) and bronchopathy (P = 0.005) for the older group. No differences were found between the groups regarding surgical results, except higher postoperative morbidity and mortality in the 75 years old age group (P = 0.02 and P = 0.03, respectively). In the multivariate analysis, the factors associated with postoperative morbidity were age and preoperative albumin levels (P < 0.05). Cancer-specific survival (CSS) was lower in older patients (P < 0.05). The multivariate analysis of survival determined that age and tumour stage are independent predictive factors (P = 0.004 and P = 0.039, respectively), unlike American Society of Anesthesiologists score. ConclusionsAge does not influence the surgical results after colon cancer resection but is associated with increased postoperative morbidity and mortality. CSS is lower in patients who are 75 years old.