Multidimensional analysis of rectal cancer: Clinicodemography, patterns of care and failure - Single institutional ambispective study I

Introduction: Colorectal cancers (CRC) being the third most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide. Although newer drugs, advanced surgical and radiation techniques have revolutionized the treatment of rectal cancers, cure rates are still less because of the frequent locoregional and distant failures. Materials and Methods: This ambispective study was conducted at a university teaching and tertiary care referral hospital. The data of the patients were collected from the patient records without the active participation of the patients. The data were collected with regard to demographics, clinical presentation, treatment received, and patterns of failure. Results: Rural patients were in majority, Male patients were dominant in number, Married patients were more compared to unmarried patients, Smokers outnumbered never-smokers, Mean age at presentation was 52 years, Neoadjuvant treatment was received by 22% of patients, Curative surgical resection was done in 62% of patients, Palliative treatment was received by 25% of patients. No recurrence was seen in 43.01% ( n =151) of patients, while locoregional recurrence, distant recurrence (metastasis) or both were reported in 20.80% ( n =73), 10% (n=35) and 8.53% ( n =30) respectively. Disease progression was seen in 11.39% ( n =40). Conclusions: This study highlights the demographic profile, clinical presentation, smoking habits, marital status, treatment patterns, types of curative surgeries, male–female ratio, rural–urban distribution, mean age of presentation, and patterns of failure.