Prognostic significance of adjuvant radiation therapy in adenocarcinoma of the cecum

PURPOSE: Local recurrence is a common failure pattern in adenocarcinoma of the cecum. This study aimed to investigate the potential role of adjuvant radiation therapy on oncologic outcomes of patients with adenocarcinoma of the cecum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was carried out at three large tertiary university hospitals. We analyzed the characteristics, prognostic factors, and survival of 162 patients with adenocarcinoma of the cecum that were treated and followed up between 2000 and 2013. All the patients had undergone a right hemicolectomy and received chemotherapy with (n = 48) or without (n = 114) adjuvant radiation therapy. RESULTS: The subjects were 65 females and 97 males with a median age of 56 years (range, 17 to 90 years) at diagnosis. The 5-year local control (LC), disease free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were 72.7%, 57.2%, and 62.6% respectively. In a multivariate analysis, age, tumor stage, node stage, and adjuvant radiation therapy were determined to be independent prognostic factors. Age more than 55 years (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.06–0.32; p = 0.003], T4 stage (HR = 6.8; 95% CI, 3.07–15.36; p < 0.001), node positive disease (HR = 4.2; 95% CI, 1.94–9.13; p < 0.001), and the absence of adjuvant radiation therapy (HR = 3.0; 95% CI, 1.39–6.46; p = 0.005) had a negative influence on OS. CONCLUSION: Adjuvant radiation therapy significantly improves DFS and OS in patients with adenocarcinoma of the cecum.