Local recurrence of colorectal cancer: effect of early detection and aggressive surgery

A prospective study was undertaken of the incidence, symptoms, diagnostic measures and therapy of local recurrences of colorectal carcinoma following radical surgical management. Out of 715 patients, 156 (22 per cent) developed recurrence of the tumour, which was local in 90 patients. In addition, 36 patients with local recurrence from other hospitals were treated. Half of the patients were symptom-free at the time of diagnosis. Out of the 126 patients, 109 were treated by surgery, a radical operation being feasible in 53 cases. Fifty per cent of these have survived for at least 17 months. The operative mortality was very low (4.6 per cent), although extensive surgery was necessary in most of the cases. The preliminary results of this study support the hypothesis that a postoperative follow-up programme for patients with colorectal cancer leads to early detection of local recurrence and improves the chance of cure by surgical treatment.