Comparison of the pathological response of the mesorectal positive nodes between short-course chemoradiotherapy with delayed surgery and long-course chemoradiotherapy in patients with rectal cancer

• Published in: International journal of colorectal disease 2015-10, Vol.30 (10), p.1339-1347
• Main Authors: Beppu, Naohito, Kobayashi, Masayoshi, Matsubara, Nagahide, Noda, Masashi, Yamano, Tomoki, Doi, Hiroshi, Kamikonya, Norihiko, Kakuno, Ayako, Kimura, Fumihiko, Yamanaka, Naoki, Yanagi, Hidenori, Tomita, Naohiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Cancer patients; Care and treatment; Chemoradiotherapy; Colorectal cancer; Comparative analysis; Female; Gastroenterology; Hepatology; Humans; Internal Medicine; Lymph Nodes - drug effects; Lymph Nodes - pathology; Lymph Nodes - radiation effects; Lymphatic Metastasis; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Proctology; Rectal Neoplasms - pathology; Rectal Neoplasms - surgery; Rectal Neoplasms - therapy; Surgery; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0179-1958; 1432-1262
• DOI: 10.1007/s00384-015-2321-8

Background The aim of this study was to compare the pathological response of mesorectal positive nodes between short-course chemoradiotherapy with delayed surgery (SCRT-delay) and long-course chemoradiotherapy (LC-CRT) in patients with rectal cancer. Method The resected primary tumor specimens following the two different approaches were assessed utilizing the tumor regression grade (TRG 0–4), and each positive lymph node was assessed according to the lymph node regression grade (LRG 1–3), with TRG 4 and LRG 3 indicating total regression. The lymph node sizes were measured to elucidate any correlation with LRG scores. Results Seventy-four patients with ypN-positive rectal cancer had 220 positive lymph nodes following the SCRT-delay, and 48 patients had 141 positive lymph nodes following the LC-CRT. The distribution of LRG 1/2/3 in the two groups was 123/72/25 and 60/31/50 ( p