Study: "Completeness" of Surgery Said Key for Advanced Rectal Cancer Patients

In patients with advanced rectal cancer, the "completeness" of the surgical removal of the areas infiltrated by the cancer is key to a successful outcome, according to Japanese researchers.

The researchers from the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo reported in the journal Colorectal Disease on their experiences with 128 patients who were treated for advanced rectal cancer between 1985 and 1998.

The rectal cancer in these patients had most frequently spread to the bladder, followed by the prostate and vagina.

In two-thirds of these patients, the researchers reported, the rectal cancer had spread to the urinary tract. Half of these were treated with bladder-sparing surgery.

In these patients, "overall 5-year disease-free survivial was 57 percent," the researchers reported.

"Completeness of [surgical removal of the cancer] is the essential factor influencing oncological outcome," the researchers concluded.

Other sources: Europeah Journal of Cancer Care