The necessity of chemotherapy in T3N0M0 colon cancer without risk factors

BackgroundFor patients with T3N0M0 colon cancer without known risk factors, the necessity of chemotherapy has no definite consensus.MethodsFrom 1994 to 2004, we retrospectively analyzed 247 patients who had pathologically confirmed T3N0M0 colon cancer without risk factors.ResultsAmong the 247 patients, 198 (80.2%) received chemotherapy and 49 (19.8%) underwent surgery alone. The 5-year survival rate was 92.8% for patients with T3N0M0 colon cancer without risk factors. Only chemotherapy increased survival (P = .032) by multivariate analysis. The 5-year survival rates were 85.4% in the surgery-only group and 94.2% in the group that received surgery with chemotherapy. There was no difference in the therapeutic efficacy of 5-fluorouracil, capecitabine, and uracil/tegafur (P = .424) for survival.ConclusionThe results of this study showed that chemotherapy improved the survival of patients with T3N0M0 colon cancer without risk factors.