title: Prognostic value of additional pathological variables for long-term survival after curative resection of rectal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prognostic value of some pathological variables in rectal cancer survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  247 patients who underwent curative resection of rectal cancer were included in the study. The influence on survival of five pathological variables (histopathological tumor type, histopathological tumor grade differentiation, blood vessel invasion, perineural invasion and lymphatic invasion) was assessed using statistical analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall 5-year survival was 71.2%. Univariate analysis of all tested variables showed an effect on survival but only the effect of lymphatic invasion was statistically significant. At stages three and four it had a negative effect on survival (P = 0.0212). Lymphatic invasion also significantly affected cancer related survival in multivariate analysis at stages three and four. At lower stages (stage 0, stage 1 and stage 2) multivariate analysis showed a negative effect of perineural invasion on cancer related survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with lymphatic and perineural invasion have a higher risk for rectal cancer related death after curative resection. Examination of these variables should be an important step in detecting patients with a poorer prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Department for abdominal surgery, Teaching Hospital Maribor, Ljubljanska ulica 5, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia. b.krebs@sb-mb.si
authors.forename: Bojan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Krebs
authors.forename: Miran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kozelj
authors.forename: Rajko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kavalar
authors.forename: Borut
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gajzer
authors.forename: Eldar M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Gadzijev
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis