Reoperation for patients with postoperative local recurrence of rectal cancer

Abstract

Objective To assess the efficacy of surgical treatment and the prognostic factors predicting survival for patients with local recurrence of rectal cancer. Methods The clinical data of 43 rectal cancer patients who received reoperation at Beijing Cancer Hospital from November 1998 to April 2005 were retrospectively analyzed. The postoperative 5-year survival, incidence of complications, perioperative mortality were calculated. Postoperative survival was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method and prognostic factors by univariate analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results Of all patients, 35 underwent radical resection, 8 underwent palliative resection or colostomy. The incidence of complications, perioperative mortality and postoperative 5-year survival were 26% (11/43), 2% (1/43) and 9% (4/43), respectively. Patients who received radical resec-tion, with primary tumor of TNM Ⅱ stage, with normal level of carcinoembryonic antigen, and with the time of recurrence within postoperative 24 months had better prognosis (χ~2 = 21.30, 14.17, 5.93, 5.53, P < 0.05). Modality of reoperation and TNM staging of primary tumor were the independent factors influcing the prognosis (χ~2 = 8.89, 6.96, P < 0.05). Conclusion Radical resection for patients with postoperative local recurrence of rectal cancer results in a favorable prognosis. Key words: Rectal neoplasms; Recurrence; Surgical procedures; Prognosis