Table 1.
Sites of recurrent disease and screening tests for colorectal cancer.
| Site of Recurrence | Percent of Patients with Recurrence at 5 Years by Site of Initial Tumoura | Screening Tests | |
| Colon | Rectum | ||
| Liver | 35 | 30 | CEA, US or CT, RIS?, Sx |
| Lung | 20 | 30 | Chest x-ray, CEA, Sx |
| Peritoneal | 20 | 20 | CEA, Sx, CT, RIS? |
| Retroperitoneal | 15 | 5b | CEA, CT, RIS?, Sx |
| Peripheral Lymph Nodes | 2 | 7b | Physical exam, CEA |
| Other (brain, bones) | <5 | <5 | Sx, scans |
| Loco-regional | 15 | 35b | CT pelvis, CEA, RIS? Sx, endoscopy? FOB? |
| Second or metachronous colorectal cancer | 3 | 3 | Colonoscopy, FOB? |
Note: ?, questionable test; CEA, carcinoembrionic antigen; CT, computerized tomography; FOB, fecal occult blood; RIS, radioimmunoscintigraphy; Sx, symptoms; US, ultrasound. a Data modified from Galandiuk et al (4). The median time to recurrence is significantly shorter for stage C versus B and for lesions that originally had perforation or adhesion/invasion of surrounding structures (p < 0.01). b Indicates significant differences (p < 0.05).