Survival outcomes after isolated local recurrence of rectal cancer and risk analysis affecting its resectability

This study aimed to investigate the clinical course and prognostic factors after isolated local recurrence (iLR) and to identify the predictive factors for R0 resection of locally recurrent rectal cancer (LRRC).

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 76 patients with iLR who had undergone radical surgery for a primary tumor from 2003 to 2015.

The iLR rate was 2.5%. From 76 patients, 39 patients underwent R0 resection for iLR. Multivariate analysis revealed that initial open surgery, neoadjuvant chemoradiation, and p/ypT ≥ 3 were poor prognostic factors after iLR as regard to the variables related to the primary tumor; and symptom presence at the time of iLR diagnosis, higher fixity, and no chemotherapy after iLR were associated with shorter overall survival after iLR, and R0 resection of LRRC was the only favorable prognostic factor for progression-free survival after iLR as regard to the variables related to LRRC. Higher tumor level, negative pathologic circumferential margin of the primary tumor, and low fixity of LRRC were favorable factors in achieving R0 resection of LRRC.

Early detection of iLR before symptom development, use of chemotherapy after iLR and R0 resection of LRRC should be considered to improve survival outcomes after iLR.