Aims: Locoregional recurrence in rectal carcinoma usually occurs within the first five years of treatment. In recent years we have increasingly diagnosed patients with late locoregional recurrence more than 5 years after primary treatment.
Methods: The data of 978 patients with invasive stage I-III rectal carcinoma who underwent curative resection (R0) between 1978 and 1990 were analysed retrospectively. The median follow-up time was 10 years.
Results: The earliest locoregional recurrence was observed at 2 months, the latest at 148 months (extramural locoregional recurrence) after primary treatment. Within 1, 2 and 5 years 34, 64 and 91 per cent of all locoregional recurrences had been diagnosed. The 2-, 5- and 10-year locoregional recurrence rates of all patients increased from 11.3 to 16.7 to 18.8 per cent. The time lapse to diagnosis of locoregional recurrence was significantly influenced by the pN category (pN0: later), grading (low grade: later) and tumour cell dissemination (present: earlier). Locoregional recurrence was also diagnosed significantly earlier in patients undergoing regular follow-up. The curative reoperation rate was 22 per cent (n=37), being higher in patients with intramural locoregional recurrence (49 per cent), after primary anterior resection (32 per cent) and in the absence of distant metastases (29 per cent).
Conclusion: Long-term follow-up beyond five years demonstrates increasing numbers of late locoregional recurrences.