Nomogram to predict disease recurrence in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer undergoing rectal surgery after neoadjuvant therapy: retrospective cohort study. Issue 6 (14th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saadoun, Jacques-Emmanuel; Meillat, Hélène; Zemmour, Christophe; Brunelle, Serge; Lapeyre, Alexandra; de Chaisemartin, Cécile; Lelong, Bernard
• Is Part Of: BJS open. Volume 6:Issue 6(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-12-14
• Subjects: Surgery -- Periodicals; 617.005
• DOI: 10.1093/bjsopen/zrac138
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2474-9842

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Prognostic models can be used for predicting survival outcomes and guiding patient management. TNM staging alone is insufficient for predicting recurrence after chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer. This study aimed to develop a nomogram to better predict cancer recurrence after CRT followed by total mesorectal excision (TME) and tailor postoperative management and follow-up. Materials and Methods: Between 2002 and 2019, data were retrospectively collected on patients with rectal adenocarcinoma. Data on sex, age, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level, tumour location, induction chemotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy, tumour downsizing, perineural invasion, lymphovascular invasion, pathological stage, resection margins (R0 versus R1), and pelvic septic complications were analysed. The variables significantly associated with cancer recurrence were used to build a nomogram that was validated in both the training and validation cohorts. Model performance was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve and area under the curve (AUC) analyses. Results: After applying exclusion criteria, 634 patients with rectal adenocarcinoma were included in this study. Eight factors (CEA level, adjuvant chemotherapy, tumour downsizing, perineural invasion, lymphovascular invasion, pathological stage, resection margins (R0 versus R1), and pelvic septic complications) were identified as nomogram variables. Our nomogram showed good performance with an AUC of 0.74 and 0.75 in the training and validation cohorts respectively. Conclusion: Our nomogram is a simple tool for predicting cancer recurrence in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant CRT followed by TME. It provides an individual risk prediction of recurrence to tailor surveillance. Abstract : TNM staging is insufficient for predicting rectal cancer recurrence. We developed a prediction model based on eight factors with internal validation. Pelvic infectious complication was the most powerful variable in the nomogram. The nomogram had good performance and was correlated with time to recurrence. High-risk patients would benefit from closer follow-up