[Cancer of the rectum: treatment by a radiosurgical combination of 328 patients. Mono- and multivariate analysis of prognostic factors].

From 1973 to 1983, 328 patients have been treated for rectal carcinoma in the Centre Paul Lamarque by preoperative radiotherapy (40 Grays) followed by surgical excision. The average age was 64 years and the sex ratio was 2:1. Abdominoperineal resection was performed in 219 patients anterior resection in 99 patients and transanal resection in 10 patients. Overall 3 years survival was 82 p. 100 and 5 year survival was 73 p. 100. The five year local recurrence rate was 9.4 p. 100 with 3.5 p. 100 of patients having liver metastases. Monovariate analysis revealed that the local recurrence rate was influenced by tumor circumference (p = 0.005), tumor reduction after radiotherapy (p less than 0.001), histological type (p = 0.049), lymph node metastases and tumor infiltration (p = 0.001). Survival was influenced by lymph node metastases, tumor infiltration (p = 0.001) and histological type (p = 0.01). The multivariate analysis revealed that prognosis was influenced by lymph node metastases and tumor infiltration. The "down staging" induced by the radiotherapy did not modify the predictive value of these 2 prognostic parameters when compared to groups treated by surgery only.