Resultados oncológicos del manejo neoadyuvante con quimiorradioterapia seguido de cirugía en cáncer de recto localmente avanzado: en el Instituto Oncológico Nacional de Panamá.

Background and objectives: 720,000 new cases of rectal cancer are reported each year. In the locally advanced stage (LARC), multimodal therapy followed by surgery with total mesorectal excision (TME) is the standard of care with potential benefits in acute toxicity, response assessment and resectability. The objective is to describe the clinicopathological characteristics and oncological results in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy followed by radical surgery. Methods: A descriptive, non-experimental, cross-sectional and retrospective study in which the clinical records of 141 patients diagnosed with LARC defined as cT3T4N0 or cTXN+M0 scheduled for treatment with neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy at the National Oncology Institute during the period from January 2014 to December 2019 were analyzed. Results: A total of 119 patients completed neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery, resulting in a resectability of 90.1%. The overall rate of postoperative complications was 17.4%. The pCR and downstaging rate was 19.6% and 70.6%, respectively. Preoperative N category was the only variable with a statistically significant impact regarding pCR vs no pCR (p = 0.04). The median follow-up was 39 months, obtaining a 5-year overall survival of 69% and a 5-year disease-free survival of 74.4%. Conclusion: At the National Oncology Institute of Panama, the treatment of LARC with a long course of chemoradiation therapy followed by surgery with curative intent demonstrated high adherence to treatment with a rate of complete pathological response and local control in accordance with international reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]