Yield of Surveillance Colonoscopies 1 Year After Curative Surgical Colorectal Cancer Resections.

Background & Aims: Endoscopic surveillance after curative colorectal cancer (CRC) resection is routine. However, there is controversy whether the 1-year interval between preoperative and postoperative colonoscopy is justified owing to improved colonoscopy standards. We aimed to assess the yield of surveillance colonoscopies 1 year after CRC surgery.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 572 patients (54.9% male; mean age, 66.2 ± 9.9 y), who underwent curative surgical resection of a first CRC from June 2013 through April 2016 in the Northwest region of The Netherlands. Patients were included if a complete clearing colonoscopy was performed before surgery and the interval between the preoperative and postoperative colonoscopy was 12 months (range, 6-20 mo), conforming to Dutch guidelines. The primary outcome of the study was the yield of CRC at the surveillance colonoscopy performed 1 year after curative resection. A secondary outcome was the yield of advanced neoplasia.

Results: After a mean surveillance interval of 13.7 months (±2.8 mo), 10 of 572 patients (1.7%; 95% CI, 0.7%-2.8%) received a diagnosis of CRC. Of these, 5 CRCs were apparently metachronous cancers (3 were stage III or IV) and 5 were recurrences at the anastomosis (1 was stage IV). In 11.4% of patients (95% CI, 8.9%-13.8%), advanced neoplasia was detected at the 1-year follow-up colonoscopy. Synchronous advanced neoplasia at baseline colonoscopy was a risk factor for detection of advanced neoplasia at the follow-up colonoscopy (odds ratio, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.3-3.8; P ≤ .01).

Conclusions: Despite high colonoscopy quality, the yield of CRC at surveillance colonoscopy 1 year after CRC resection was 1.7%. These were metachronous CRCs and recurrences, often of advanced stage. The high yield justifies the recommendation of a 1-year surveillance interval after surgical CRC resection.