Table 1.
Patients and tumour characteristics
| Variable | No. of patients (%), n = 22 |
|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | |
| Median age [range], year | 65 [41–86] |
| Sex (male) | 16 (72.7) |
| Median pre-operative CEA level [range], µg/L | 15.8 [1.90–321.0] |
| Primary tumour site | |
| Location of the primary tumour | |
| Colon | 3 (13.6) |
| Rectum | 19 (86.4) |
| Symptoms caused by the primary tumour | |
| Symptoms at the time of presentation | |
| None | 7 (31.8) |
| Rectal blood loss | 9 (40.9) |
| Changes in bowel habits | 4 (18.2) |
| Bowel obstruction | 3 (13.6) |
| Onset of symptoms during the course of the illness | |
| None | 5 (22.7) |
| Bowel obstruction | 2 (9.1) |
| AJCC T-stage on pathologya | |
| ypT1/ypT2 | 2 (12.5) |
| ypT3/ypT4 | 14 (87.5) |
| Lymph node status on pathologya | |
| ypN1/ypN2 | 6 (37.5) |
| ypN0 | 10 (62.5) |
| Hepatic metastasis | |
| Size of largest metastasis (median [range]), cm | 1.7 [0.4–6.6] |
| No. of metastasis (median [range]) | 2 [1–7] |
| Location (unilobular) | 10 (45.5) |
a
Excluding patients who did not undergo resection of their primary colorectal tumor (n = 6).