Study: Repeat Surgery a Success for Many With Locally Recurrent Rectal Cancer

Many patients with locally recurrent rectal cancer can be successfully operated on a second time, and about one-third of those who undergo the repeat surgery will survive for at least five years, according to Mayo Clinic researchers.

Reporting on a total of 394 patients who underwent surgical exploration for recurrent rectal cancer, they said the disease was found to have spread in 90 patients but that in 304 cases surgeons were able to operate in an effort to remove the cancer.

They said that in 45 percent of these 304 cases, surgeons were able to remove all of the cancer, and in these patients, a five-year survival rate of 37 percent was achieved compared to 16 percent in patients where surgeons were not able to get all of the cancer.

This study demonstrates that many patients with locally recurrent rectal cancer can be operated on a second time successfully, the researchers reported in the journal Annals of Surgery.

"Long-term survival can be achieved, especially for patients with no symptoms and minimal fixation of the recurrence in the pelvis, provided no gross residual disease remains," the researchers concluded.

Other Sources: Annals of Surgery