The long-term prognosis of patients with colon cancer is dependent on many factors. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the long-term prognosis of patients with obstructing carcinoma of the right colon.

From 1981 to 1988, 256 patients at the Veterans General Hospital-Taipei who were status postcurative resection of right colon adenocarcinoma were classified as obstruction group (n = 35) or nonobstruction group (n = 221) as appropriate.

Analysis revealed no differences in age, sex, tumor location, or stage (P >0.05) between the two groups. However, the overall and distant recurrence rates were significant higher in obstructed patients than in nonobstructed patients. Further, long-term crude and cancer-specific survival rates were significantly lower in obstructed patients when examining either overall patient outcome or stage-matched outcomes. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that obstruction and tumor stage were both independent prognostic factors.

Obstruction status was an independent prognostic factor for patients with right colon carcinoma. The long-term prognosis of patients with obstructing carcinoma of the right colon was poor.