Stage I-III colon cancer patients with tumor deposits behave similarly to stage IV patients. Cross-section analysis of 392 patients

Background and Objectives Tumor deposits (TDs) are associated with adverse prognostic factors and decreased survival in colorectal cancer. However, controversy exists regarding their definition, evaluation, and staging categories. This study aimed to determine the survival and recurrence impact of the TD in colon adenocarcinomas; and to determine if TD patients behave similarly to stage IV patients. Methods Cross-section study from 392 patients with colon adenocarcinoma from 2005 to 2012. We performed survival analysis and further stratified patients considering TD patients as a "stage IV-TD" to demonstrate if they behave similarly than stage IV patients. Results From 392 patients, 204 (52%) were men, the mean age was 57.4 +/- 13.9 years and 11.5% of cases had TD. In a multivariate analysis, TD failed to predict mortality and recurrence. Considering cases with TD as stage IV-TD, their mean survival was similar to stage IV patients (69.3 and 64.6 months, respectively) and different to those in stage III (110.5 months), II (135.7 months), and I (114.9 months) (P < 0.001). Conclusions TD failed to predict mortality and recurrence. Patients with TD in stage I-III shows similar mortality than stage IV patients; then, we suggest putting them into a substage IV category instead of the N1c category.