Table 2.
Characteristics of patients with rectal cancer having different pathological tumor sizes following surgery
| Pathological tumor size < 5 cm (n, %) | Pathological tumor size ≥ 5 cm (n, %) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper-third rectum | 40 (75.47%) | 16 (24.53%) | 0.368 |
| Middle-third rectum | 50 (56.18%) | 39 (43.82%) | |
| Lower-third rectum | 44 (65.67%) | 23 (34.33%) | |
| Adjuvant CT (-) | 71 (63.39%) | 41 (36.61%) | 0.778 |
| Adjuvant CT (+) | 72 (66.06%) | 37 (33.94%) | |
| Sphincter-saving procedure | 137 (67.82%) | 65 (32.18%) | 0.002 |
| APR | 6 (31.58%) | 13 (68.42%) | |
| Adjuvant RT (-) | 110 (59.17%) | 59 (40.83%) | 0.869 |
| Adjuvant RT (+) | 33 (63.46%) | 19 (36.54%) | |
| CRM negative | 112 (56.00%) | 88 (44.00%) | 0.012 |
| CRM positive | 7 (33.33%) | 14 (66.67%) | |
| Neoadjuvant CCRT (-) | 122 (64.21%) | 68 (35.79%) | 0.288 |
| Neoadjuvant CCRT (+) | 21 (63.74%) | 10 (32.2%) | |
| Pathological T1-3 | 140 (66.67%) | 70 (33.33%) | 0.001 |
| Pathological T4 | 3 (27.27%) | 8 (72.73%) | |
| Pathological N0 | 81 (64.29%) | 45 (35.71%) | 0.888 |
| Pathological N1-2 | 62 (65.26%) | 33 (34.74%) | |
| WD adenocarcinoma | 31 (72.09%) | 12 (27.91%) | 0.100 |
| MD adenocarcinoma | 111 (63.79%) | 63 (36.21%) | |
| PD adenocarcinoma | 0 (0.00%) | 2 (100.00%) | |
| LVI negative | 85 (64.89%) | 46 (35.11%) | 0.763 |
| LVI positive | 52 (67.53%) | 25 (32.47%) |
APR, abdominal perineal resection; RT, radiotherapy; CT, chemotherapy; CRM: circumferential margin; WD, well-differentiated; MD, moderately differentiated; PD, poorly differentiated; LVI, lymphatic vascular invasion; CCRT, concurrent chemoradiotherapy