Table 1.
Patients characteristics in analysed groups
| Preoperative Radiotherapy 25 Gy + Surgery N = 154 | p | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Time interval 7–10 days N = 77 | Time interval 4–5 weeks N = 77 | ||
| Age, yr (median(range)) | 61 (30–92) | 62 (26–83) | 0.87a |
| Women | 28 (36.4%) | 38 (49.4%) | 0.10b |
| Men | 49 (63.6%) | 39 (50.6%) | |
| Clinical staging of rectal cancer according to UICC (AJCC 2002) | |||
| I | 9 (11.7%) | 14 (18.2%) | 0.686b |
| II | 45 (58.4%) | 44 (57.1%) | |
| III | 23 (29.9%) | 19 (24.7%) | |
| Tumor localisation (distance from anal verge) | |||
| < 6 cm | 28 (36.4%) | 37 (48.1%) | 0.14b |
| 7-12 cm | 49 (63.6%) | 40 (51.9%) | |
| Mean resection margins (cm) | |||
| Proximal | 15.83 ± 7.27 | 14.67 ± 6.30 | 0.303a |
| Distal | 4.30 ± 1.89 | 4.20 ± 2.36 | 0.778a |
| Circumferential radial | 1.11 ± 1.1 | 1.27 ± 1.13 | 0.618a |
| Resected lymph nodes | |||
| Median (range) | 16 (1–79) | 15 (0–57) | 0.204a |
| Patients with ≥12 lymph nodes resected | 56 (73%) | 51 (66%) | 0.382b |
| Adjuvant chemotherapy | |||
| No of pts (percentage) | 53 (68.8%) | 51 (66.2%) | 0.731b |
| Types of resection | |||
| Anterior resection | 40 (51.9%) | 40 (51.9%) | 0.391b |
| Abdomino-perineal amputation | 31 (20.1%) | 25 (16.2%) | |
| Hartmann procedure | 5 (6.5%) | 8 (10.4%) | |
| TEM | 0 | 4 (5.2%) | |
| Other (hemicolectomy + anterior resection) | 1 (1.3%) | 0 | |
| Type of resection acc. to Hermanek | |||
| R0 | 65 (84.4%) | 71 (92.2%) | 0.239b |
| R1 | 7 (9.1%) | 2 (2.6%) | |
| R2 | 5 (6.5%) | 4 (5.2%) | |
| Sphincter saving operations | |||
| Number (percentage) | 41 (53.2%) | 44 (57.1%) | 0.627b |
| Response to radiotherapy | |||
| Downstaging | 10 (13%) | 34 (44.2%) | 0.0001b |
| Complete response | 0 | 8 (10.4%) | 0.003b |
| Histological staging after radiotherapy (ypTNM, AJCC 2002) | |||
| 0 | 1 (1.3%) | 11 (14.2%) | 0.003b |
| I | 20 (26%) | 25 (32.5%) | |
| II | 18 (23.4%) | 23 (29.9%) | |
| III | 34 (44.1%) | 15 (19.5%) | |
| IV | 4 (5.2%) | 3 (3.9%) | |
aU Mann–Whitney test
bChi-square test