Abstract
Background: Synchronous colon cancers, defined as two or more primary colon cancer detected simultaneously at the time of initial diagnosis, account for up to 5% of all colon cancer diagnoses. Management principles and outcomes remain largely undefined. Methods: A retrospective institutional review of patients undergoing curative intent resection for colon adenocarcinoma (Stages I–III) from 1995 to 2007 was performed. Hereditary causes or inflammatory bowel disease were excluded. Matching was performed and Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to compare overall survival. Results: Of 2,387 patients, 100 (4.2%) had synchronous cancers. Patients with synchronous lesions tended to be older (median 77 vs. 72 years, P 0.05). Compared to solitary, synchronous cancers demonstrated an inferior 10-year overall survival (53.9% vs. 36.5%, P = 0.009). Subset analysis of patients with synchronous cancers showed no difference in overall survival between those with extended versus segmental resections at 120-months (P = 0.07). Conclusion: Synchronous colon cancer is associated with decreased overall survival compared to patients with solitary tumors. Extended resection does not confer a survival benefit in these patients. Further research is needed to determine how to mitigate the poor outcomes. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:80–85. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.