RATIONALE: Laparoscopic-assisted surgery is a less invasive type of surgery for colorectal cancer and may have fewer side effects and improve recovery. It is not yet known if undergoing conventional surgery is more effective than laparoscopic-assisted surgery for colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying conventional surgery to see how well it works compared to laparoscopic-assisted surgery in treating patients with colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVES:

• Determine whether longitudinal and circumferential resection margins and lymphatic clearances obtained during laparoscopic surgery are different from those obtained with conventional open surgery in patients with colorectal cancer.
• Compare the patterns of loco-regional or distant metastatic spread after these two surgical methods in these patients.
• Compare the morbidity and mortality rates in these patients after these two surgical methods, particularly in terms of the technical or thromboembolic complications that may develop as a consequence of prolonged pneumoperitoneum.
• Compare the disease-free or overall survival of these patients after these two operative procedures.
• Determine, in those patients in whom laparoscopic surgery fails, which investigatory modalities are appropriate for providing pre-operative indications that a patient is an inappropriate candidate for laparoscopic dissection.
• Compare the differences in quality of life between the two operative procedures, particularly in patients with advanced disease.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study.

Patients undergo laparoscopic surgery or conventional open surgery.

Patients are followed at 1 and 3 months following surgery, then every 3 months for the first year, every 4 months for the second year, and then every 6 months thereafter.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: Approximately 1,200 patients will be accrued for this study within 5 years.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed colorectal cancer
• Must be suitable for elective surgical resection by right hemicolectomy, left hemicolectomy, sigmoid colectomy, anterior resection or abdomino-perineal resection
• No adenocarcinoma of the transverse colon
• No synchronous multiple adenocarcinomas

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• 18 and over

Performance status:

• Not specified

Life expectancy:

• Not specified

Hematopoietic:

• Not specified

Hepatic:

• Not specified

Renal:

• Not specified

Pulmonary:

• No contraindication to pneumoperitoneum such as severe cardio-respiratory disease

Other:

• No acute intestinal obstruction
• No prior malignancy within the past 5 years, except basal cell carcinoma, carcinoma in situ of the cervix, or prostate cancer
• Not pregnant
• No gastrointestinal disease that requires surgical intervention, e.g., Crohn's disease, chronic ulcerative disease, familial polyposis

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

• Not specified

Chemotherapy:

• Not specified
• Adjuvant chemotherapy allowed

Endocrine therapy:

• Not specified

Radiotherapy:

• Preoperative radiotherapy must be administered before randomization into this trial
• Adjuvant radiotherapy allowed

Surgery:

• See Disease Characteristics