Pelvic and perineal recurrences after abdominoperineal resection for adenocarcinoma of the rectum.

Pelvic and perineal recurrences were evaluated in 48 patients who underwent abdominoperineal resection at Roswell Park Memorial Institute for adenocarcinoma of the rectum. The duration of follow-up of these patients was at least 5 years or until death. There were 26 male and 22 female patients with a median age of 60 years. In 40 patients, the abdominoperineal resection was considered to be curative and in the remaining 8 patients, palliative abdominoperineal resection was performed. Only 2 of the 48 patients had a pelvic recurrence and in none of these patients was this recurrence the first site of relapse. One of the 48 patients had a local perineal recurrence; however, this was treated successfully with surgery. This represents a total of three pelvic or perineal recurrences in 48 patients, for a recurrence rate of 6 percent.