Research involving more than 50,000 bowel cancer patients by the National Bowel Cancer Audit shows that four in five patients who underwent major surgery in England and Wales between April 2008 and March 2010 lived beyond two years of diagnosis.
Over the same period, patients who were either too frail to have major surgery and/or had too advanced cancer to benefit from major surgery had a much poorer survival rate, with only two of five patients surviving for two years. This contrast in outcomes means further investigations are required to better define the reasons why some patients do not have major surgery. The audit was developed by the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and was commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership. The report also presents new data about 90 day post-operative survival based on the records of nearly 30,000 people diagnosed with bowel cancer between April 2011 and March 2012. It found post-operative survival is at a record high. Of the 17,250 patients who had surgery, 95.5% were alive 90 days on from their operation – compared to 94.7% in 2010/11 and 93.9% in 2008/09. However, the risk of post-operative death following an emergency admission carries a much higher risk when compared to an admission for elective (planned) surgery. About one-in-seven patients undergoing emergency surgery in 2011/12 did not survive 90 days after operation. The full report can be accessed at: www.hscic.gov.uk/bowel
