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Aim Evaluation of ≥ 12 lymph nodes ( LNs) is recommended after surgery for colon cancer. A harvest of ≤ 8 is considered poor, but few reports have evaluated risk factors associated with a poor harvest. This aims of this study were to analyse the clinical, surgical and pathological factors associated with poor LN harvest ( LNH), the total number of examined nodes and the effect of LN number on stage. Method All patients reported to the Norwegian Colorectal Cancer Registry during 2007 and 2008 who underwent curative resection for Stage I-III colon cancer were studied. Risk factors for poor LNH and the proportion of Stage III disease were analysed by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results A total of 2879 patients were included in the study. The median LNH was 14. Overall, 69.9% had ≥ 12 lymph nodes and 14.4% had ≤ 8 LN (poor harvest). Multivariate analysis showed that male sex, age > 75 years, sigmoid tumours, pT category 1-2, failure to use the pathology report template and distance of ≤ 5 cm from the bowel resection margin were all independent factors for poor LNH. Age < 65 years, pT category 3-4, and poor tumour differentiation were independent predictors of Stage III disease. An increased LNH did not increase the proportion of patients identified as being LN positive at the ≤ 8, 9-11 and ≥ 12 LN levels. Conclusion Adequate LNH was achieved in the majority of curative colon cancer resections in this national cohort. Elderly, male patients with sigmoid cancers, and a short distal margin were at increased risk of a poor LNH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National treatment strategy improves survival [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: An anastomotic leak after surgery for colon cancer is a recognized complication but how it may adversely affect long-term survival is less clear because data are scarce. The aim of the study was to investigate the long-term impact of Grade C anastomotic leak in a large, population-based cohort., Method: Data on patients undergoing resection for Stage I-III colon cancer between 2008 and 2012 were collected from the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish Colorectal Cancer Registries. Overall relative survival and conditional 5-year relative survival, under the condition of surviving 1 year, were calculated for all patients and stratified by stage of disease., Results: A total of 22 985 patients were analysed. Anastomotic leak occurred in 849 patients (3.7%). Five-year relative survival in patients with anastomotic leak was 64.7% compared with 87.0% for patients with no leak (P < 0.001). Five-year relative survival among the patients who survived the first year was 88.6% vs 81.3% (P = 0.003). Stratification by cancer stage showed that anastomotic leak was significantly associated with decreased relative survival in patients with Stage III disease (P = 0.001), but not in patients with Stage I or II (P = 0.950 and 0.247, respectively)., Conclusion: Anastomotic leak after surgery for Stage III colon cancer was associated with significantly decreased long-term relative survival., (© 2020 The Authors. Colorectal Disease published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.)