Clinical Characteristics and Survival of Patients With Rectal Cancer



Hemati S¹ ; Mohammadianpanah M² Show Affiliations
Source: Journal of Isfahan Medical School Published:2014

Abstract

In the issue No. 247 (October 2013) of Journal of Isfahan Medical School, an interesting article entitled “Survival time and recurrent rate in patients with rectum cancer” was reported by Sanei et al. That study was one of the largest reports of rectal cancer from Iran. It provided valuable information regarding the characteristics and oncologic outcomes of the patients with rectal cancer in Isfahan province. Furthermore, 2 other recently published reports from the Tehran and Shiraz investigated the characteristics, prognostic factors and survival of patients with rectal cancer. These two recently published articles specifically focused on the total number and ratio of positive identified lymph nodes, or surgical techniques used in patients with rectal cancer. Sanei et al. did not provide information regarding the total number and ratio of positive identified lymph nodes. Inadequate lymph node evaluation is a common problem in patients with colorectal cancer. The higher number of identified lymph nodes is a favorable prognostic factor and associated with improved disease-free and overall survival in node negative colorectal cancer. On the other hand, higher lymph node ratio is a poor prognostic indicator for overall and/or disease free survival in node positive (stage III) colorectal cancer. Multicenter and national studies are warranted to identify the clinical characteristics and survival of patients with rectal cancer. © 2014, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.