Table 1.
Baseline characteristics for the two groups
| Adjuvant chemotherapy (n = 149) | Perioperative chemotherapy (n = 151) | P ¶ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years)* | 63·0 (25·0–88·0) | 61·7 (29·1–88·6) | 0·321# |
| Sex ratio (M : F) | 102 : 47 | 88 : 63 | 0·087 |
| Primary tumour | |||
| Location | 0·072 | ||
| Right transverse colon | 31 of 148 (20·9) | 44 (29·5) | |
| Left colon | 87 of 148 (58·8) | 87 (58·4) | |
| Rectum | 30 of 148 (20·3) | 18 (12·1) | |
| Stage T3–4 | 94 of 148 (63·5) | 128 of 143 (89·5) | < 0·001 |
| Node‐positive | 94 (63·1) | 107 (70·9) | 0·191 |
| Disease history | < 0·001 | ||
| Synchronous | 67 (45·0) | 109 (72·2) | |
| Metachronous without previous chemotherapy | 39 (26·2) | 5 (3·3) | |
| Metachronous with previous chemotherapy | 43 (28·9) | 37 (24·5) | |
| Hepatic disease | |||
| Maximum tumour size (mm)* | 25 (3–200) | 30 (1–100) | 0·005# |
| No. of tumours* | 1 (1–5) | 2 (1–5) | < 0·001# |
| CEA level > 5 ng/ml at diagnosis | 33 (22·1) | 36 (23·8) | 0·833 |
| Neoadjuvant FOLFOX† | |||
| Progression (RECIST) | n.a. | 13 (8·6) | |
| No. of cycles* | n.a. | 6 (3–11) | |
| Surgical procedures and outcomes | |||
| Order of resections | 0·016 | ||
| Primary tumour resection first | 103 (69·1) | 123 (81·5) | |
| Simultaneous liver and primary resection | 45 (30·2) | 26 (17·2) | |
| Liver first | 1 (0·7) | 2 (1·3) | |
| Major hepatectomy (≥ 3 segments) | 9 (6·0) | 41 (27·2) | < 0·001 |
| Dindo–Clavien grade ≥ III | 19 (12·8) | 15 (9·9) | 0·557 |
| Positive resection margins | 12 of 146 (8·2) | 53 of 143 (37·1) | < 0·001 |
| Adjuvant chemotherapy | |||
| Regimen | < 0·001 | ||
| None | 36 (24·2) | 43 (28·5) | |
| FOLFOX (± FOLFIRI) | 65 (43·6) | 100 (66·2) | |
| UFT or XELOX | 6 (4·0) | 6 (4·0) | |
| Capecitabine | 42 (28·2) | 2 (1·3) | |
| Postoperative bevacizumab or cetuximab | 3 (2·0) | 22 (14·6) | < 0·001 |
| No. of postoperative cycles*, ‡ | 6 (2–15) | 6 (0–16) | 0·444# |
| Tumour genotype | |||
| KRAS/BRAF mutation§ | 34 of 75 (45) | 35 of 84 (42) | 0·760 |
Values in parentheses are percentages unless indicated otherwise;
*
values are median (range).
†
FOLFOX (5‐fluorouracil–leucovorin–oxaliplatin) includes FOLFOX4, FOLFOX6 and modified FOLFOX6;
‡
for patients treated by intravenous chemotherapy;
§
KRAS exons 2 and 3, and BRAF exon 15. CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen; RECIST, Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (guidelines); n.a., not applicable; FOLFIRI, folinic acid–5‐fluorouracil–irinotecan; UFT, tegafur–uracil; XELOX, capecitabine–oxaliplatin.
¶
χ2 or Fisher's exact test, except
#
Wilcoxon signed rank test.