Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2005 ASCO Annual Meeting Proceedings.
Vol 23, No 16S (June 1 Supplement), 2005: 3600
© 2005 American Society of Clinical Oncology

This Article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Download to citation manager Rights & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Martin, R. C. Articles by McMasters, K. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Martin, R. C. Articles by McMasters, K. M.

Abstract

The quality of chemotherapy and surgery in reporting of metastatic colorectal cancer

Univ of Louisville Sch of Medicine, Louisville, KY

3600

Background: Despite reports from numerous surgical and systemic clinical studies for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (MCC) to the liver, there is limited ability to directly compare these results. As a result, patients with liver metastases often receive conflicting management recommendations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the reporting of prognostic factors in clinical studies of MCC and define parameters for uniform study reporting. Methods: Randomized clinical trials (RCT) and retrospective series (RP) of over 75 patients from 1980 to 2001 in MCC were reviewed to identify 10 critical prognostic elements of overall survival reported in both types of journals. Chi square was utilized to evaluate differences between factors. Results: Overall, there were 201 articles (91 RCT and 109 RP)with 63,589 patients analyzed. Results from systemic and surgical clinical studies were evaluated for the number of prognostic factors reported. A review of 201 reports found 0 (0%) reporting all prognostic factors and further evaluation of both RCT and RP demonstrated no significant difference in reporting criteria met (table). Factors found significantly greater in surgical trials were disease free interval, # hepatic metastases, and a lymph node postive primary compared to systemic trials with performance status and complication rates (p<0.001). Conclusions: The reporting of results in MCC in chemotherapy trials and surgical reports is limited to general outcomes with paucity of prognostic factors, which hinders any ability to compare to results across treatments. A mandatory reporting criteria of all metastatic colorectal trials is needed to better facilitate the interpretation and comparison of data from systemic therapy and surgical studies, and ultimately improve the therapeutic decision-making process for patients.

View larger version (36K): [in this window] [in a new window]

Abstract presentation from the 2005 ASCO Annual Meeting