Assessment of rectum cancer patients applied for neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy

OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESIS: This study was planned to evaluate particularities, overall survival, progression free survival and prognostic factors of rectum cancer patients who were subject to adjuvanr or neoadjuvanr chemoradiotherapy.METHODS : 126 rectum cancer patients (72 men, 54 women; mean age: 59 + 12,7 yr) who were subject to adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy from January 2002 to August 2007 in the Department of Medical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Dokuz Eylül were evaluated. Patients data were obtainedby retrospective analysis of the electronic hospital recordss and patients files in the department. Patients who were missing their follow up visits were reached by phone calls. Survival data were updated in June 2008.RESULTS: No stattistically significant differences for survival were found according to age, preoperative and postoperative T, lymph node involvement, CEA level, tumor differentiation, vascular and lymphatic invasion. Perineural invasion was found as a statistically bad prognostic factor (p=0,003). Patients overall and progression free survival were found respectively at 2 years as 93,9 % and 81,7 % and at 5 years 72,4 % and 56,8 %.CONCLUSION: The overall and progression survival of the patients were equivalent to that reported in the literature. Only perineural invasion was a significant prognostic factor. Multicenter prospective analysis are needed in order to evaluate the role of other candidate prognosticfactorsKEY WORDS: Rectum cancer, radiotherapy, chemotherapy.