Purpose: To assess the efficacy of high-dose preoperative radiation and full thickness local excision as an option for the management of selected distal rectal cancers.
Methods and materials: Forty-eight patients with invasive distal rectal cancer have been treated with high-dose preoperative radiation (45-55 GY at 180 cGy/fx) followed 6 to 8 weeks later by full thickness local excision. Three groups of patients are included in this study. Group 1 (N = 15) Medically Compromised: patients with rectal cancers Stages T3 or > 3 cm in size and significant cardiorespiratory disease that precluded radical surgery. Group 2 (N = 18) Elective: patients suitable for local treatment by standard criteria (Stages < T2 and < 3 cm in size), and group 3 (N = 15) Staged: patients with Stages T3 or > 3 cm in size that postradiation were downstaged and met the criteria as in group 2. One patient in group 3 was found to be pathologically T3 following full thickness local excision and was converted to an abdominoperineal resection. Follow-up ranges from 6-96 months with a median of 40 months.
Results: The overall 5-year actuarial survival for the whole group is 83.5% and local recurrence is 10%. The 5-year survival is 74%, 92%, and 88% for Groups 1, 2, and 3 and 90%, 89%, and 50% for postradiation pathologic stages T0/T1, T2, and T3, respectively. Local recurrence rate by treatment groups are 20%, 11%, and 0% for groups 1, 2, and 3 and 11%, 0%, and 67% for postradiation Stages T0/T1, T2, and T3, respectively. Surgical complications, primarily wound healing, were observed in five patients (10%). Four patients required a subsequent colostomy (three for recurrence and one for a rectovaginal fistula). Sphincter function as measured by Parks criteria was good/excellent in 88% of patients.
Conclusion: High-dose preoperative radiation and full thickness local excision appear to be a promising new option for the management of selected patients with invasive distal rectal cancers. Selected patients with Stage T3 cancers that as a result of preoperative radiation are downstaged and met the criteria for primary local therapy (T2 or less) appear to have an excellent survival with retained normal sphincter function following full thickness local excision.