Radical Redo Surgery for Local Rectal Cancer Recurrence Improves Overall Survival: A Single Center Experience

To date, the survival benefit of redo surgery in locally recurrent rectal adenocarcinoma remains unclear.

In an institutional study, operations for recurrence were retrospectively analyzed. Survival was calculated using the Kaplan–Meier plot and Cox regression analysis.

A total of 72 patients with local recurrence were explored or resected. In 38 patients, there was synchronous distant organ recurrence. Forty-five of 72 were re-resected and in 37 of 45 cases, R0 situations were achieved. In 11 of 38 metastasized patients, both local and distant organ recurrence were successfully removed. For obtaining tumor control, resections of inner genitals, bladder, and sacral bone were necessary in 10, 4, and 11 patients, respectively. Survival was better for patients re-resected with a median overall survival of 54.9 months, as compared with 31.1 months among non-resected patients (p = 0.0047, log-rank test). Subgroup analysis revealed that a benefit of re-resection was observed to a lesser extent in synchronous local and in distant disease. Cox analysis showed that initial Dukes stage and complete resections of local recurrences were independently determining prognosis (relative risk 1.762 and 0.689, p = 0.008 and p = 0.002, respectively).

Radical surgery for local recurrence can improve survival if complete tumor clearance is achieved, and concomitant distant tumor load should not principally preclude re-resection.