T4N0 colon cancer has oncologic outcomes comparable to stage III in a specialized center

CD4 and FOXP3 as predictive markers for the recurrence of T3/T4a stage II colorectal cancer: applying a novel discrete Bayes decision rule

Background

We recently reported the relapse-free survival (RFS) significance of the combination of CD4⁺ and forkhead box P3⁺ (FOXP3) T-cell densities identified by immunohistochemistry in patients with stage I, II, and III colorectal cancer (CRC) who underwent curative resections. This study was designed to determine the optimal combination of markers that predict recurrence in patients with T factors of T3/T4a stage II CRC by applying a novel Bayes decision rule.

Methods

Using 137 cancer tissue specimens from T3/T4a stage II patients, 12 clinicopathologic and immune factors were analysed as predictive candidates for recurrence.

Results

Our study showed that the combination of low CD4⁺ and low FOXP3⁺ T-cell densities resulted in extremely poor RFS.

Conclusions

Adjuvant chemotherapy may be considered for patients with a combination of low CD4⁺ and low FOXP3⁺ T-cell densities. The discovery of this new prognostic indicator is important for the appropriate management of patients undergoing curative resection for T3/T4a stage II CRC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-10181-7.

Screening and validation of a novel T stage-lymph node ratio classification for operable colon cancer

Background

Lymph node ratio (LNR) has advantages in predicting prognosis compared with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) pathological N stage. However, the prognostic value of a novel T stage-lymph node ratio (TLNR) classification for colon cancer combining LNR and pathological primary tumor stage (T stage) is currently unknown.

Methods

We included 62,294 patients with stage I-III colon cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program as a training cohort. External validation was performed in 3,327 additional patients. A novel LNR stage was established and combined with T stage in a novel TLNR classification. Patients with similar survival were grouped according to T and LNR stages, with T1LNR1 as a reference.

Results

We developed a novel TLNR classification as follows: stages I (T1LNR1-2, T1LNR4), IIA (T1LNR3, T2LNR1-2, T3LNR1), IIB (T1LNR5, T2LNR3-4, T3LNR2, T4aLNR1), IIC (T2LNR5, T3LNR3-4, T4aLNR2, T4bLNR1), IIIA (T3LNR5, T4aLNR3-4, T4bLNR2), IIIB (T4aLNR5, T4bLNR3-4), and IIIC (T4bLNR5). In the training cohort, the novel TLNR classification had better prognostic discrimination (area under receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.621 vs. 0.608, two-sided P<0.001), superior model-fitting ability for predicting overall survival (Akaike information criteria, 561,129 vs. 562,052), and better net benefits compared with the AJCC 8^th tumor/node/metastasis classification. Similar results were found in the validation cohort for predicting both overall and disease-free survival.

Conclusions

This novel TLNR classification may provide better prognostic discrimination, model-fitting ability, and net benefits than the AJCC 8^th TNM classification, for potentially better stratification of patients with operable stage I-III colon cancer; however, further studies are required to validate the novel TLNR classification.

A Novel TNM Classification for Colorectal Cancers based on the Metro-ticket Paradigm

Background: Several revisions of the TNM classifications for colorectal cancer (CRC) have acknowledged that the oncological outcomes of stage IIB/IIC CRC are worse than those of stage IIIA. We aimed to develop a novel TNM (nTNM) classification based on the metro-ticket paradigm. Methods: We identified eligible CRC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. The nTNM was developed using distance from the origin on a Cartesian plane incorporating the pN (x-axis) and pT (y-axis) stages, and was compared with the AJCC TNM classification. The areas under the curves (AUCs), calibration curves, and Akaike's information criterion (AIC) were used to evaluate the predictive performances of the two classifications. Clinical benefits were further estimated by decision curve analyses. The validation cohort was applied to validate these findings. Results: A total of 58,192 CRC patients (40,736 training cohort, 17,456 validation cohort) were finally included. In the training cohort, 18,476 patients (45.4%) experienced upstaging and 15,907 patients (39.0%) experienced downstaging in the nTNM classification compared with the TNM classification. Taking the prognosis of stage I as the reference, survival decreased with increasing nTNM stage. The nTNM classification showed better discrimination (AUC, 0.678 vs. 0.667, P<0.001), model-fitting (AIC, 236,525 vs. 237,741), and clinical benefits than the TNM classification. Similar results were found in the validation cohort. Conclusions: The nTNM classification for CRC has better predictive performances and superior accuracy for predicting prognosis compared with the TNM classification. The nTNM classification should therefore be considered in future revisions of the TNM classification.

Staging Paradox and Discrepancy in Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients with T4N0, T1-2N1, and T3N1 Colon Cancer

BACKGROUND

A survival paradox between T4N0 (stage IIB/C) and T3N1 (stage IIIB) colon cancer has been rarely reported. The indication and regimen of adjuvant chemotherapy are separately described in the guidelines. This study aimed to elucidate the prognostic factors and investigate proper adjuvant treatment in colon cancer patients at these stages.

METHODS

Patients who underwent R0 resection for pathological T4N0 (n = 49), T1-2N1 (n = 31), or T3N1 (n = 82) colon cancer between 2008 and 2016 at a single institute were retrospectively reviewed. The clinicopathological characteristics, status of adjuvant chemotherapy, and oncologic outcomes of patients with T4N0 tumors were compared with those of patients with T1-2N1 and T3N1 tumors.

RESULTS

The biological characteristics of T4N0 tumors were more aggressive compared with the characteristics of T1-2N1 tumors and were similar to those of T3N1 tumors. The usage rate of oxaliplatin as an adjuvant chemotherapy was significantly lower in T4N0 patients than in T1-2N1 and T3N1 patients. The rate of local recurrence was the highest in patients with T4N0 tumors, and the survival outcomes for patients with T4N0 tumors were significantly worse compared with those of T1-2N1 patients and were similar to those of T3N1 patients. A multivariate analysis revealed that lack of adequate use of oxaliplatin for adjuvant chemotherapy was the only prognostic factor.

CONCLUSIONS

T4N0 colon cancer had similar oncological characteristics and survival outcomes to T3N1 colon cancer. Systematic adjuvant chemotherapy, including oxaliplatin, should be incorporated into the therapy for T4N0 patients as well as T3N1 patients.

Assessment of Duration and Effects of 3 vs 6 Months of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in High-Risk Stage II Colorectal Cancer: A Subgroup Analysis of the TOSCA Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

The addition of oxaliplatin to the standard 6-month fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II colorectal cancer has been reported to reduce the risk of relapse although it does not increase survival. The Three or Six Colon Adjuvant (TOSCA) trial compared 3 months with 6 months of adjuvant fluoropyrimidine and oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in patients with stage III colon cancer. The utility remains unknown.

Objective

To assess the noninferiority and toxic effects of 3 vs 6 months of FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) or CAPOX (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin) adjunct chemotherapy among patients with high-risk stage II resected colorectal cancer enrolled in the TOSCA trial.

Design, Setting, and Participants

The TOSCA study was a noninferiority phase 3 randomized clinical trial conducted from June 2007 to March 2013 in 130 Italian centers. Included patients had resected colorectal cancer located 12 cm from the anal verge by endoscopy or above the peritoneal reflection at surgery. In this preplanned study assessing the per-protocol population, 5-year relapse-free survival was evaluated in 1254 patients with high-risk stage II resected colorectal cancer who had received adjuvant FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) or CAPOX (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin).

Interventions

Patients were originally randomized (1:1) in the TOSCA trial to receive 3 months (experimental group) or 6 months (control) of standard doses of FOLFOX or CAPOX at the discretion of the treating physician.

Main Outcome and Measures

A hazard ratio of at least 1.2 between the 3-month and 6-month chemotherapy groups was set to reject the null hypothesis of noninferiority.

Results

Overall, 1254 patients (mean [SD] age, 62.4 [9.8] years; 565 women [45.1%]) with clinical high-risk stage II resected colorectal cancer were analyzed at a median follow-up of 62 months (interquartile range, 53-71) months. Of them, 301 patients (24.0%) had pT4N0M0 tumors, and the remaining 953 patients (76.0%) had high-risk pT3N0M0 tumors; 776 patients (61.9%) received FOLFOX and 478 (38.1%) received CAPOX. The 5-year relapse-free survival was 82.2% for the 3-month arm and 88.2% for the 6-month arm, with an estimated hazard ratio of 1.41 (95% CI, 1.05-1.89; P = .86 for noninferiority). For CAPOX, the 5-year relapse-free survival was similar in the 2 arms (difference, 0.76% favoring the 6-month arm; 95% CI, -6.28% to 7.80%), whereas for FOLFOX, the difference was pronounced: 8.56% in favor of the longer-duration arm (95% CI, 3.45%-13.67%). Nevertheless, the test for an interaction between duration and regimen was not statistically significant. Neurotoxicity was approximately 5 times lower in the shorter duration arm than in the longer duration arm.

Conclusions and Relevance

In the 3-month arm, the treatment was significantly less toxic than in the 6-month arm. Noninferiority was not shown for 5-year relapse-free survival. However, a possible regimen effect was observed, suggesting that either 3 months of CAPOX or 6 months of FOLFOX therapy can be used whenever an oxaliplatin doublet is indicated for treatment of patients with stage II colorectal cancer.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0064660.

A Modified Tumor-Node-Metastasis Classification for Primary Operable Colorectal Cancer

Background

The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification for colorectal cancer (CRC) has limited ability to predict prognosis.

Methods

We included 45 379 eligible stage I-III CRC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. Patients were randomly assigned individually to a training (n = 31 772) or an internal validation cohort (n = 13 607). External validation was performed in 10 902 additional patients. Patients were divided according to T and N stage permutations. Survival analyses were conducted by a Cox proportional hazard model and Kaplan-Meier analysis, with T1N0 as the reference. Area under receiver operating characteristic curve and Akaike information criteria were applied for prognostic discrimination and model fitting, respectively. Clinical benefits were further assessed by decision curve analyses.

Results

We created a modified TNM (mTNM) classification: stages I (T1-2N0-1a); IIA (T1N1b, T2N1b, T3N0); IIB (T1-2N2a-2b, T3N1a-1b, T4aN0); IIC (T3N2a, T4aN1a-2a, T4bN0); IIIA (T3N2b, T4bN1a); IIIB (T4aN2b, T4bN1b); and IIIC (T4bN2a-2b). In the internal validation cohort, compared with the AJCC 8th TNM classification, the mTNM classification showed superior prognostic discrimination (area under receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.675 vs 0.667, respectively; 2-sided P < .001) and better model fitting (Akaike information criteria = 70 937 vs 71 238, respectively). Similar findings were obtained in the external validation cohort. Decision curve analyses revealed that the mTNM had superior net benefits over the AJCC 8th TNM classification in the internal and external validation cohorts.

Conclusions

The mTNM classification provides better prognostic discrimination than AJCC 8th TNM classification, with good applicability in various populations and settings, to help better stratify stage I-III CRC patients into prognostic groups.

The prognostic effect of adjuvant chemotherapy in the colon cancer patients with solitary lymph node metastasis

PURPOSE

Previous studies have reported paradoxical survival prognoses for some node-negative and node-positive colon cancer patients. However, current guidelines recommend adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) only for node-positive patients. This study investigated the efficacy of adjuvant CT for patients who underwent radical surgery for colon cancer with solitary lymph node (LN) metastasis.

METHODS

This study included 281 patients treated between 2004 and 2015. Patients were classified into no-CT (n = 39) and CT (n = 242) groups, and the survival outcomes and recurrence-related follow-up data were analyzed.

RESULTS

The groups exhibited similarities in tumor sidedness, tumor differentiation, and pathologic stage. However, the age, ASA class, and preoperative CEA level were relatively lower in the CT group. Although the CT group had a higher 5-year overall survival (OS) rate than the no-CT group (88.4% vs. 65.3%, p < 0.001), the groups did not differ in terms of 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) (CT, 84.1% vs. no-CT, 83.3%, p = 0.490). A multivariate analysis identified adjuvant CT as an independent factor for OS but not for DFS. A highly examined LN count (≥ 12) was associated with improved DFS improvement. However, D3 LN dissection was not associated with DFS or OS. For DFS, intermediate/apical positive LNs received a high hazard ratio relative to pericolic/epicolic LNs (2.080, 95% confidence interval: 0.979-4.416), but this was not significant (p = 0.057).

CONCLUSIONS

Adjuvant chemotherapy did not provide clear advantages for colon cancer with solitary LN metastasis. Further large studies that analyze several prognostic factors are needed to establish tailored adjuvant CT administration guidelines.

Clinicopathological and biomolecular characteristics of stage IIB/IIC and stage IIIA colon cancer: Insight into the survival paradox

BACKGROUND

A survival paradox of stage IIB/IIC and IIIA colon cancer has been consistently observed throughout revisions of the TNM system. This study aimed to understand this paradox with clinicopathological and molecular differences.

METHODS

Clinicopathological characteristics of patients with pathologically confirmed stage IIB/IIC or IIIA colon cancer were retrospectively reviewed from a database. Publicly available molecular data were retrieved, and intrinsic subtypes were identified and subjected to gene sets enrichment analysis (GSEA).

RESULTS

Among the 159 patients included in the clinicopathological analysis, those at stage IIB/IIC had worse 3-year disease-free and overall survival than those at stage IIIA (59.3% vs 91.7%, P < 0.001 and 82.7% vs 98.5%, P < 0.001, respectively), even after adjusting for confounding factors. Data of 95 patients were retrieved from public databases, demonstrating a higher frequency of the microsatellite instable subtype in stage IIB/IIC. The consensus molecular subtype distribution pattern differed between the groups. The GSEA further suggested the protumor inflammatory reaction might be more prominent in stage IIB/IIC.

CONCLUSIONS

The survival paradox in colon cancer was confirmed and appears to be a multifactorial phenomenon not attributed to a single clinicopathologic factor. However, the greater molecular heterogeneity in stage IIB/IIC could contribute to the poor prognosis.

Combination of CDX2 expression and T stage improves prognostic prediction of colorectal cancer

OBJECTIVE

Prognostic prediction of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains challenging because of its heterogeneity. Aberrant expression of caudal-type homeobox transcription factor 2 (CDX2) is strongly correlated with the prognosis of CRC.

METHODS

Tissue samples of patients with CRC who underwent surgery in Xinhua Hospital (Shanghai, China) from January 2010 to January 2013 were collected. CDX2 expression was semiquantitatively evaluated via immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

In total, 138 patients were enrolled in this study from a prospectively maintained institutional cancer database. The median follow-up duration was 57.5 months (interquartile range, 17.0-71.0 months). In the Cox proportional hazards model, low CDX2 expression combined with stage T4 CRC was significantly the worst prognostic factor for disease-free survival (hazard ratio = 7.020, 95% confidence interval = 3.922-12.564) and overall survival (hazard ratio = 5.176, 95% CI = 3.237-10.091). In the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, patients with low CDX2 expression and stage T4 CRC showed significantly worse disease-free survival and overall survival than those with low CDX2 expression alone.

CONCLUSION

CDX2 expression combined with the T stage was more accurate for predicting the prognosis of CRC. Determining the prognosis of CRC using more than one variable is valuable in developing appropriate treatment and follow-up strategies.

T4N0 colon cancers should be treated like T3N1 disease

Background

Patients with positive lymph nodal involvement in colon cancer have always been deemed to fare worse than those without. However, questions have been increasingly raised on the true prognosis of T4N0 disease. We conducted this study to investigate how T4N0 disease would compare with T3N1 disease.

Methods

All patients with colon cancer treated from 2008 to 2014 was collected. Preoperative, intraoperative and histological information was compared between patients with T4N0 and T3N1 disease. Variables which significantly differed were included in multivariate analysis for recurrence and survival. Kaplan-Meier curves and cox regression analysis for time to recurrence and survival were evaluated.

Results

Seventy-eight patients had T4N0 colon cancer, while 160 had T3N1 disease. Vascular invasion, lymphatic invasion, total lymph node yield, and the administration of adjuvant chemotherapy were identified as variables for evaluation. Over a median follow-up of 41.4 (range, 21.6-65.0) months for T4N0 patients and 42.4 (range, 21.1-63.8) months for T3N1 patients, there was no statistically significant difference in the association of stage of cancer with survival [overall survival (OS): 0.97 (95% CI, 0.38-2.45), P=0.94]. Kaplan-Meier curves also showed no difference in time to death (P=0.867). There was no statistically significant difference in the time to death [hazard ratio (HR): 0.56 (95% CI, 0.20-1.55), P=0.26].

Conclusions

T4N0 colon cancers have similar outcomes to T3N1 disease and should be considered as stage III disease in future classification. Patients diagnosed with T4N0 disease should receive similar treatment as those with T3N1 disease and counselled accordingly.

Long-term results after proactive management for locoregional control in patients with colonic cancer at high risk of peritoneal metastases

PURPOSE

A major problem in treating patients with peritoneal spread from colorectal cancer is that at diagnosis wide peritoneal involvement often precludes all curative attempts. A possible solution is to identify those patients at risk for peritoneal metastases and intervene early to prevent locoregional disease spread before it develops and, thus, to improve outcome.

METHODS

We analyzed long-term results from a previous study and compared outcomes in 25 patients with advanced colon cancer considered at high risk for peritoneal spread (pT3/pT4 and mucinous or signet ring cell histology) prospectively included and managed with a proactive surgical approach including target organ resection for peritoneal spread plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and in 50 retrospectively well-matched controls who underwent standard surgical resection during the same period and in the same hospital by different surgical teams.

RESULTS

At 48 months after the study closed, peritoneal metastases and local recurrence developed significantly less often in proactively managed patients than in controls (4 vs 28%) (p < 0.03). Patients in the proactive group also survived longer than control patients (median overall survival 59.5 vs 52 months). Despite similar morbidity, Kaplan-Meier survival curves disclosed significantly longer disease-free and overall survival in the proactive than in the control group (p < 0.05 and <0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with advanced colon cancer at risk for peritoneal recurrence, the proactive surgical approach plus HIPEC seems to achieve good locoregional control preventing peritoneal spread thus improving outcome without increasing morbidity. These advantages merit investigation in a multicentric randomized trial.

Survival paradox between stage IIB/C (T4N0) and stage IIIA (T1-2N1) colon cancer

BACKGROUND

The survival paradox between stage IIB/C (T4N0) and stage IIIA (T1-2N1) colon cancer remains in the 7th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system. This multicenter study aimed to compare the oncologic outcomes of T4N0 and T1-2N1 colon cancers and to investigate the presumptive prognostic factors that might influence the survival paradox.

METHODS

Patients who underwent curative surgery for pT4N0 (n = 224) and pT1-2N1 (n = 135) primary colon cancer between January 1999 and December 2010 at five tertiary referral cancer centers were included for analysis. The clinicopathologic, treatment-related factors, and oncologic outcomes in terms of the 5-year overall survival (5-OS) and 5-year disease-free survival (5-DFS) were compared.

RESULTS

The T4N0 group had significantly worse 5-OS and 5-DFS rates than the T1-2N1 group (5-OS: 84.0 vs. 92.3 %, p = 0.012; 5-DFS: 73.6 vs. 88.0 %, p = 0.001). T4N0 cancers more frequently showed elevated preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen, lower grade of differentiation, larger tumor size, and higher proportions of perineural invasion, microsatellite instability, obstruction, and perforation than T1-2N1 cancers. Peritoneal seeding and liver metastasis were the predominant recurrence pattern in the T4N0 and T1-2N1 groups, respectively (p = 0.042). The T4N0 group showed inferior survival to the T1-2N1 group in postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (5-OS: 87.1 vs. 93.2 %, p = 0.045; 5-DFS: 76.1 vs. 89.0 %, p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

T4N0 colon cancer had significantly worse oncologic outcomes than T1-2N1 cancer regardless of adjuvant chemotherapy. The survival paradox may result from the biologic aggressiveness of T4N0 colon carcinomas.

Solitary lymph node metastasis is a distinct subset of colon cancer associated with good survival: a retrospective study of surveillance, epidemiology, and end-results population-based data

Background

Colon cancer with lymph node metastases has been considered as advanced stage and to have poor survival. We postulated that patients with solitary lymph node metastasis are a distinct subset with better colon cancer-specific survival than those with multiple lymph node metastases.

Methods

In this retrospective study, we searched Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results (SEER) population-based data and identified 86,674 patients who had been diagnosed with colon cancer without distant metastases and with less than three metastatic nodes between 1991 and 2005. We divided lymph node status into three subgroups: pN0, pN1a, and pN1b and obtained 5-year colon cancer-specific survival for each pT stage. We used Kaplan–Meier and multivariate Cox regression models to assess correlations between risk factors and survival outcomes.

Results

Analysis of SEER data confirmed that patients with solitary lymph node metastases had better 5-year cancer-specific survival than pN1b according to both univariate and multivariate analysis. This finding was confirmed by further analyses in five pT subgroups. Cancer-specific survival of patients with pT1-2N1a was comparable to that of those with pIIA but higher than those with pIIB. In addition, survival of patients with pT3-4aN1a was better than those with pIIC.

Conclusion

Colon cancer patients with solitary lymph node metastasis are a distinct subset with a favorable prognosis; full consideration should be given to this in clinical practice.