Evaluation of clinical, morphopathological and therapeutic prognostic factors in rectal cancer. Experience of a tertiary oncology center.

PURPOSE Morphopathological factors continue to be the most important prognostic factors in colorectal cancer, but there is evidence regarding the prognostic value of some factors that are not yet used in current clinical practice. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the most important clinical, morphopathological and therapeutic prognostic factors in rectal cancer. METHODS This study retrospectively analyzed 317 patients diagnosed and treated at the Ion Chiricuta Institute of Oncology between 2000-2008. The prognostic value of 13 variables was analyzed and correlations between them were established. Nine variables were included in a multivariate analysis model. RESULTS The 5-year overall survival (OS) was 55.6%, significantly higher for patients with TNM stage I disease 7l.7%), compared to stage II (71.4%), stage III (45.4%) and stage IV (12.5%; p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, the independent prognostic factors were tumor stage, age, lymph node invasion, venous, lymphatic and perineural invasion. CONCLUSIONS In addition to the TNM stage and lymph node invasion, age, venous, lymphatic and perineural invasion were also proved to have prognostic significance in rectal cancer. Further studies are required for the validation of prognostic assessment models in patients diagnosed with rectal cancer.