TABLE 2.

Description of Adjuvant Therapy Received by Stage II and III Rectal Cancer Patients

	Total		Stage II		Stage III
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Total	2886	100.0	1524	100.0	1362	100.0
Rates of
Radiation therapy receipt*	1573	54.5	732	48.0	841	61.8
Chemotherapy receipt*	1502	52.0	641	42.1	861	63.2
Both radiation therapy and chemotherapy receipt*	1309	45.4	571	37.5	738	54.2
Among those receiving adjuvant radiation therapy
Receiving neoadjuvant radiation therapy*	306	19.4	191	26.1	115	13.7
Initiation of radiation therapy before or within 8 wk of resection*	1006	64.0	509	69.5	497	59.1
Among those receiving adjuvant chemotherapy
Receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy*	198	13.2	127	19.8	71	8.2
Initiation of chemotherapy before or within 8 wk of resection†	1176	78.3	483	75.4	693	80.5

All chi-square overall, comparing stage II with stage III with different characteristics of therapy. (No statistics for testing duration of therapy.)

^*P ≤.001.

^†P ≤.05.