Adenocarcinoma of the lower third of the rectum surgically treated with a < 10-MM distal clearance: Preliminary results in 35 N0 patients

Background: Recent reports suggest that a distal clearance (DC) of 10 mm at the lower surgical margin may be considered adequate in the surgical treat ment of rectal cancer, but there are no data on the possible adequacy of a <10-mm DC in N0 patients in whom a good prognosis can otherwise be expected , that is, those with negative surgical margins and negative lymph nodes. Methods: Between November 1991 and December 1998, 154 consecutive patients with adenocarcinoma of the lower third of the rectum had a total rectal res ection with total mesorectal excision and coloendoanal anastomosis. Among 7 6 N0 patients, there were 35 with < 10-mm DC and 41 with 10-mm DC. Each gro up was divided into two subgroups depending on whether the surgical margins were involved or not, and the rate of local recurrence in the various cate gories was compared. All B2 Astler-Coller stage patients in the series rece ived postsurgical chemoradiotherapy. Results: The local recurrence rate in the 35 patients with DC <10 mm was 11 .4% and that of the 41 patients with DC <greater than or equal to>10 mm was 7.3%. When only patients with negative surgical margins were considered, t he local recurrence rate was 3.4% for those with < 10-mm DC and 5.1% for th ose with <greater than or equal to>10-mm DC. Conclusions: Our results suggest that a radical surgery with < 10-mm DC fol lowed by chemoradiotherapy may be adequate in N0 patients, provided that a careful pathologic examination of the surgical specimen excludes the presen ce of lymph node metastases and that the distal rectal and mesorectal resec tion margins fall in healthy tissue.