[Results of surgical treatment of local and locoregional recurrence of rectal carcinoma--an analysis of 54 patients].

The role of secondary resections of locally and locoregionally recurrent rectal cancer is still unclear concerning local tumor control and survival. A retrospective study of 54 patients undergoing resections of recurrent rectal cancer from 1984 to 1992 was done to define the role of secondary surgery and additive or adjuvant therapies. Extended resections of adjacent organs were performed in 37 patients. Potentially curative surgery was possible in only 7/54 patients, in 14 patients microscopically residual tumor (8 of these patients receiving intraoperative radiation therapy [IORT], and in 33 patients (11 of these cases with distant metastases) macroscopic tumor had to be left. A preoperative or postoperative radiation therapy partly in combination with IORT, hyperthermia or chemotherapy was applied in 26 patients. Median survival was 12.5 months in all patients, 19 months in patients without distant metastases and 8 months in patients with distant metastases, respectively. Radical surgery and localisation of the recurrent tumors were the main prognostic factors: Median survival of patients without distant metastases (n = 43) was 17 months in patients with pelvic wall recurrence, 33 months in patients with anastomotic or perineal recurrence and 39, 20 and 16 months in R0-, R1 and R2-resected patients, respectively. Local tumor control was achieved in only 10 of all patients, but in 4 of 8 patients receiving IORT. In total, only 5 of 54 patients are cured potentially. In conclusion, resection of recurrent rectal cancer, even in combination with additive or adjuvant therapies, only rarely leads to local tumor control and final cure.