Impact of laparoscopy on oncological outcomes after colectomy for stage III colon cancer: A post-hoc multivariate analysis from PETACC8 European randomized clinical trial

Abstract Background In colon cancer (CC), surgery remains the mainstay of treatment with curative intent. Despite several clinical trials comparing open and laparoscopic approaches, data on long-term outcomes for stage III CC are lacking. Methods This post-hoc analysis of the European PETACC8 randomized phase 3 trial included patients from 340 sites between December 2005 and November 2009, with long follow-up (median 7.56 years). Patients were randomly assigned to FOLFOX or FOLFOX+cetuximab after colonic resection. The surgical approach was left to the referring surgeon's discretion. Results Among 2555 patients included, 1796 (70.29%) were operated on by open surgery and 759 (29.71%) by lap…