The monitoring of the quality of surgical treatment is the basic condition for improving the results of medical care. There are various endpoints available to assess the quality of surgical care. Survival time traditionally represents the key parameter for patients with colorectal cancer. Overall survival should not, however, be the only standard accepted measure of surgical care quality. Disease free survival in the early stages, neoadjuvant or adjuvant settings has been validated as a better option. Progression free survival, alone or aggregated with the quality of life, provides a useful, more sensitive parameter for advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer. The selection of appropriate, valid end-points is the basic prerequisite for improving the quality of surgical care for patients with colorectal cancer.
Keywords: colorectal cancer - disease free survival - progression free survival - overall survival..