Rectal cancer surgery in the elderly: analysis of consecutive 158 patients with stage III rectal cancer

Background It is difficult to establish a clear-cut indication for rectal surgery in elderly patients because of greater risk. We tried to clarify the factors associated with the short-term and long-term outcomes between elderly and younger patients. Material and methods We clarified the potential predictors of the cancer-related and disease-free survivals after surgery, the factors associated with the elderly, preoperative comorbid conditions, and postoperative complications in 158 patients with stage III rectal cancer who underwent surgery, including 33 elderly patients (>= 75 years) and 125 younger patients (< 75 years). Results An old age and macroscopic types 3 and 4 were independent poor prognostic factors of cancer-related survival, whereas the disease-free survival of the younger patients was not longer than for the elderly patients. Interestingly, the survival rate in the elderly patients with recurrence was shorter than that in the younger patients. Histopathological type except well differentiated and without chemotherapy were significant tumor characteristics associated with the elderly patients. On preoperative comorbid conditions, elderly patients have more cardiovascular diseases than younger patients, whereas there were no significant differences in the postoperative complications. Conclusion Strength of the adjuvant and intensive therapies after recurrence may contribute to gain long-term survival in the elderly rectal cancer patients.