Increased C-reactive protein implies a poorer stage-specific prognosis in colon cancer.

Background: To characterize the stage-specific prognostic relevance of preoperative systemic inflammatory response, defined by C-reactive protein (CRP), in colon cancer (CC) patients.

Material And Methods: Data from CC patients operated on from 1998 to 2007 at three hospitals from three different Nordic countries were collected retrospectively from national registries, local databases and/or patient records. Patients with emergency surgery, infection or auto-immune disease were excluded.