[Influence of anastomotic leakage on long-term survival after resection for rectal cancer]

To investigate the influence of anastomotic leakage (AL) on long-term survival after resection for rectal cancer.

Clinicopathological data of 653 rectal cancer cases confirmed by pathology and undergoing R0 resection for rectal cancer in our department from January 2007 to December 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Anastomotic leakage was found in 40 cases (AL group) and not in the other 613 cases (non-AL group). After median 47 (1-91) months of follow-up, 5-year disease-free survival rate, distant metastasis rate and local recurrence rate were compared between the two groups. Risk factors affecting long-term prognosis were also analyzed.

The 5-year disease-free survival rate, 5-year distant metastasis rate, and 5-year local recurrence rate were 78.1%, 14.2% and 4.2% in the non-AL group, and 74.5%, 20.1% and 8.4% in the AL group respectively, and the differences were not statistically significant (P=0.808, P=0.965, P=0.309). Multivariate analysis showed that preoperative neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy, TNM staging, abnormal CA199, preoperative low level of albumin were independent prognostic factors of rectal cancer patients after R0 resection, while AL was not an independent factor of 5-year disease-free survival (P=0.910). Further multivariate analysis on 507 cases receiving postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy also revealed that AL was not an independent factor of 5-year disease-free survival (P>0.05). Percentage difference of patients finishing postoperative chemotherapy between the two groups was not statistically significant (79.4% vs. 76.3%, P=0.681).

AL is not an independent predictor of long-term survival for rectal cancer.