CT is unreliable in locoregional staging of early colon cancer : A nationwide registry-based study
(2023) In Scandinavian Journal of Surgery 112(1). p.33-40- Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The option to treat early colon cancer (CC) with local resection, as well as trials investigating neoadjuvant treatment, has increased the importance of identifying early-stage disease in the workup. Most CC patients are T- and N-staged preoperatively with CT, although its reliability in staging early CC remains elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate CT-staging accuracy in early CC by evaluating pT and pN stages in patients staged as cT1-2, and cT and cN stages in patients with pT1 tumors.
METHODS: Retrospective population-based cohort study on data from the nationwide Swedish colorectal cancer registry on all CC patients staged as cT1-2 and all patients with pT1 undergoing surgical resection... (More)
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The option to treat early colon cancer (CC) with local resection, as well as trials investigating neoadjuvant treatment, has increased the importance of identifying early-stage disease in the workup. Most CC patients are T- and N-staged preoperatively with CT, although its reliability in staging early CC remains elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate CT-staging accuracy in early CC by evaluating pT and pN stages in patients staged as cT1-2, and cT and cN stages in patients with pT1 tumors.
METHODS: Retrospective population-based cohort study on data from the nationwide Swedish colorectal cancer registry on all CC patients staged as cT1-2 and all patients with pT1 undergoing surgical resection 2009-2018. CT-acquired T- and N-stages were compared with final histopathology. Factors potentially influencing accuracy were analyzed with uni- and multivariate logistic regression.
RESULTS: Computed tomography (CT) staged 4849 patients as cT1-2, whereas 2445 (50%) were pT3 and 453 (9%) pT4. Positive predictive value of the cT1-2 stage was 40%. Of 1401 pT1 patients, 624 (45%) were staged as cT1-2, 139 (10%) as cT3, 15 (1%) as cT4 and 623 (44%) as cTx. In all, 1474 (30%) of the cT1-2 patients were pN+, whereas CT staged 1062 (72%) as cN0. A total of 771 patients were staged as cN+, whereas 403 (52%) were pN0. Overall accuracy in determining N+ was 67%, with 26% sensitivity and 88% specificity. Positive and negative predictive values in determining N+ were 48% and 73%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: This nationwide population-based study shows that CT-staging carries a substantial risk of understaging locally advanced tumors as cT1-2 and pT1 tumors as cTx, in addition to poor N-staging. Thus, CT obtained T- and N-staging should not be used for deciding treatment strategies in early CC.
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- author
- Wetterholm, Erik LU ; Rosén, Roberto LU ; Rahman, Milladur LU and Rönnow, Carl-Fredrik LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- General surgery, colorectal surgery, CC, colorectal cancer, computed tomography, tumor staging, CT accuracy, staging accuracy, early cancer
- in
- Scandinavian Journal of Surgery
- volume
- 112
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 8 pages
- publisher
- Finnish Surgical Society
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:36377769
- scopus:85142234156
- ISSN
- 1799-7267
- DOI
- 10.1177/14574969221132648
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d3cd6213-979f-479e-a1e1-07b1010e2f05
- date added to LUP
- 2022-11-30 12:44:00
- date last changed
- 2024-07-11 04:43:06
@article{d3cd6213-979f-479e-a1e1-07b1010e2f05, abstract = {{<p>BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The option to treat early colon cancer (CC) with local resection, as well as trials investigating neoadjuvant treatment, has increased the importance of identifying early-stage disease in the workup. Most CC patients are T- and N-staged preoperatively with CT, although its reliability in staging early CC remains elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate CT-staging accuracy in early CC by evaluating pT and pN stages in patients staged as cT1-2, and cT and cN stages in patients with pT1 tumors.</p><p>METHODS: Retrospective population-based cohort study on data from the nationwide Swedish colorectal cancer registry on all CC patients staged as cT1-2 and all patients with pT1 undergoing surgical resection 2009-2018. CT-acquired T- and N-stages were compared with final histopathology. Factors potentially influencing accuracy were analyzed with uni- and multivariate logistic regression.</p><p>RESULTS: Computed tomography (CT) staged 4849 patients as cT1-2, whereas 2445 (50%) were pT3 and 453 (9%) pT4. Positive predictive value of the cT1-2 stage was 40%. Of 1401 pT1 patients, 624 (45%) were staged as cT1-2, 139 (10%) as cT3, 15 (1%) as cT4 and 623 (44%) as cTx. In all, 1474 (30%) of the cT1-2 patients were pN+, whereas CT staged 1062 (72%) as cN0. A total of 771 patients were staged as cN+, whereas 403 (52%) were pN0. Overall accuracy in determining N+ was 67%, with 26% sensitivity and 88% specificity. Positive and negative predictive values in determining N+ were 48% and 73%, respectively.</p><p>CONCLUSIONS: This nationwide population-based study shows that CT-staging carries a substantial risk of understaging locally advanced tumors as cT1-2 and pT1 tumors as cTx, in addition to poor N-staging. Thus, CT obtained T- and N-staging should not be used for deciding treatment strategies in early CC.</p>}}, author = {{Wetterholm, Erik and Rosén, Roberto and Rahman, Milladur and Rönnow, Carl-Fredrik}}, issn = {{1799-7267}}, keywords = {{General surgery; colorectal surgery; CC; colorectal cancer; computed tomography; tumor staging; CT accuracy; staging accuracy; early cancer}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{1}}, pages = {{33--40}}, publisher = {{Finnish Surgical Society}}, series = {{Scandinavian Journal of Surgery}}, title = {{CT is unreliable in locoregional staging of early colon cancer : A nationwide registry-based study}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/14574969221132648}}, doi = {{10.1177/14574969221132648}}, volume = {{112}}, year = {{2023}}, }