Survival and long-term surgical outcomes after colorectal surgery: are there any gender-related differences?

Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality seems to be lower in women than in men. The present study aims to evaluate the impact of gender on CRC diagnosis, treatment, and survival. This is a retrospective cohort study based on a single-center dataset of CRC patients from the University Hospital of Trieste (Italy). Data of 1796 consecutive CRC patients referred to our center from November 11th, 2004, to December 31st, 2017, were analyzed. Right-sided carcinomas are more frequent in women than in men; furthermore, women had a lower surgical complication rate. Men showed a higher 5- and 10-year mortality. This survival benefit for women was observed independently of the tumor localization. The 5-year hazard ratio (HR) for women vs men was 0.776 (p 0.003), and after 10-year 0.816 (p 0.017). Regarding the disease-free survival (DFS), 5 and 10-year HR was 0.759 (p 0.034) and 0.788 (p 0.07), respectively. On multivariable analysis, respecting tumor localization, the odds of female gender were higher than man with right colon disease. Male gender was more independently associated with age at the surgery time. Women survival advantage was higher than men, except for patients older than 80. Surgical outcome and survival after CRC surgical treatment seem to be gender related. For this reason, gender could play an important role in CRC diagnosis and therapy, allowing an earlier diagnosis in women.