Current use and surgical efficacy of laparoscopic colectomy in colon cancer.

Background: The Clinical Outcomes in Surgical Therapy trial demonstrated that laparoscopic colectomy (LC) was equivalent to open colectomy (OC) for 30-day mortality, time to recurrence, and overall survival in colon cancer (CC) patients. Current use of LC for CC is not well known.

Study Design: Surgical data were reviewed for all patients randomized into a national phase III clinical trial for adjuvant therapy in stage III CC (North Central Cancer Treatment Group trial N0147).