Postoperative Follow-Up for Stage Ⅱ Low Rectal Cancer with Curative Surgery

We reviewed clinical records of 354 cases with low rectal carcinoma(RC)after curative surgery(stage Ⅱ 149 cases and stage Ⅲ 205 cases). Stage Ⅱ with recurrence(23 cases)were compared with stage Ⅱ without recurrence(126 cases)in clinicopathological items to evaluate the factors affecting recurrence of stage Ⅱ RC, and were compared with stage Ⅲ with recurrence(89 cases)in treatment outcomes to identify the proper follow-up. Multivariate analysis revealed that sex and serum CA19-9 level were affecting factors for recurrence in stage Ⅱ low RC. The local recurrence rate of recurrence cases in stage Ⅱ RC(47.8%)was higher than in stage Ⅲ RC(29.2%). Recurrence was more found by serum tumor marker level in stage Ⅲ RC than in stage Ⅱ RC. Surgery for recurrent diseases was significantly more performed in stage Ⅱ RC(60.9%) than stage Ⅲ RC. Overall survival in stage Ⅱ RC with recurrence was significantly better than in stage Ⅲ RC with recurrence. And the prognosis after recurrence was also better in stage Ⅱ RC than in stage Ⅲ RC. It was thought that proper follow-up mainly by image examination would be effective to improve the prognosis.