Do enlarged lateral lymph nodes after CRT lead to preventable lateral local recurrences

Recent literature suggests that patients with enlarged lateral lymph nodes (>5mm on MRI), who had neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and standard TME, have an up to 80% local recurrence rate in the lateral compartment; half of which has no distant spread.

Currently, a multi-center pooled analysis is ongoing to study the (lateral) local recurrence rate in patients with low locally advanced rectal cancer with enlarged and/or heterogeneous lateral lymph nodes on the pre-treatment MRI.

Because of the low incidence of these specific patients, we need as many centers as possible to participate. Please contact us and join! 

Miranda Kusters, surgeon, KWF Fellow.
miranda.kusters@catharinaziekenhuis.nl

Further information on this study is available here.