Does stenting of left-sided colorectal cancer as a "bridge to surgery" adversely affect oncological outcomes? A comparison with non-obstructing elective left-sided colonic resections.

Purpose: With a theoretical link between stent insertion and increased risk of tumour seeding, there is concern about long-term survival after the use of self-expanding metallic stents (SEMS) as a "bridge to surgery" in the treatment of left-sided obstructing colorectal cancer. This cohort study aims to determine if preoperative stenting adversely affects long-term survival by comparing a group of patients having preoperative stenting (group A) with a group of patients having elective surgery (group B) in a single centre.

Methods: The study is retrospective. Survival was calculated with Kaplan-Meier analysis and compared using the log-rank test. Other group characteristics were compared with Fisher's exact test.

Results: From November 1998 to November 2008, 15 patients had preoperative SEMS and were entered in group A. This represented 11.5 % of a total of 130 patients undergoing SEMS insertion in the same period. Group B included 88 consecutive patients undergoing elective left-sided colonic resection for Dukes' B and C cancer excluding mid and low rectal tumours between January 2003 and December 2007. The 30-day mortality rate for groups A and B was 6.7 % (one patient) and 5.7 % (five patients), respectively. The 5-year survival rate was 60 % and 58 %, respectively, with a p value of 0.96.

Conclusions: In our own practice, patients undergoing SEMS as a "bridge to surgery" have the same long-term survival with those undergoing elective surgery. This finding needs to be confirmed in larger scale studies.