Negative Impact of Low Serum Cholinesterase on Short- and Long-term Outcomes in Elderly Patients Undergoing Scheduled Surgery for Colorectal Cancer.

Background/aim: Cholinesterase (ChE) is important for estimating nutritional status and can be easily measured. This study aimed to investigate the effect of ChE on the short- and long-term prognoses of elderly patients with colorectal cancer.

Patients and methods: This study included 120 elderly patients who underwent scheduled surgery for colorectal cancer. ChE is a biomarker that can be easily measured using blood tests. The optimal cut-off level of ChE was determined using receiver operating characteristic analysis. We investigated the relationship of ChE with disease-free and overall survival using univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results: Seventy-two (60%) patients had low ChE levels (<255 U/l). In the multivariate analysis, low ChE (p=0.04) was an independent and significant predictor of postoperative complications. Low ChE (p=0.049), low prognostic nutritional index (p=0.04), and lymph node metastasis (p<0.01) were independent and significant prognostic predictors of poor disease-free survival. American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status 3 (p<0.01), low ChE (p<0.01), and lymph node metastasis (p<0.01) were independent and significant predictors of poor overall survival.

Conclusion: ChE level is a significant predictor of short- and long-term outcomes in elderly patients undergoing scheduled surgery for colorectal cancer.