Objective  To investigate the clinical efficacy and long-term outcomes of laparoscopic radical resection for stage Ⅲ colon cancer.

  Methods  A total of 169 stage Ⅲ colon cancer patients treated with laparoscopic surgery (n=75) or open surgery (n=94) between January 2007 and December 2012 in Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital were included. The clinicopathologic features, as well as long-term outcomes including 5-year local recurrence rate, overall survival, and disease-free survival, were compared between the two groups.

  Results  Compared with the open surgery group, the laparoscopic surgery group had significantly longer operation time(171.3±43.2) minutes vs. (132.7±60.4) minutes, P < 0.001, significantly less blood loss(86.3±61.7)ml vs. (109.8±74.6)ml, P=0.030, and significantly more invaded lymph nodes detected (23.3±12.2 vs. 19.3±9.6, P=0.022). No significant difference was found between the laparoscopic surgery group and open surgery group in cumulative local recurrence rate (6.7% vs. 8.5%, P=0.876), 5-year overall survival (73.6% vs. 58.8%, P=0.317), and 5-year disease-free survival (61.6% vs. 56.3%, P=0.544).

  Conclusion  Laparoscopic colectomy is safe and effective for stage Ⅲ colon cancer, comparable with the conventional open colectomy in terms of long-term oncological outcomes.