Authors: Pedro Luis López, Hugo Raul Castro-Salguero, Jorge Luis Ranero Meneses, Stefany Jerusa Peralta de León
Published: 2024-06-17
DOI: 10.1200/jco.2024.42.16_suppl.e15518
Source: Full article
e15518 Introduction: Rectal cancer is a serious condition affecting a significant number of patients worldwide. However, in the Guatemalan population, the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of this disease have not been widely studied. This study aims to address this knowledge gap by retrospectively analyzing patients with rectal cancer treated at the Guatemalan Social Security Institute between 2013 and 2018. Methods: A retrospective analysis of eighty-eight patients with rectal cancer treated at the Guatemalan Social Security Institute during the mentioned period was conducted. Descriptive statistical techniques, such as chi-square, as well as survival analysis using Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier, were employed to assess the relationship between clinical stages, treatments, and overall survival. Results: The mean age at diagnosis was 70 years +/- 20 years, and 71% of the patients were male. At the time of diagnosis, 14.28% of the patients had localized disease, 58.86% had regional spread, and 26.86% had metastatic disease. Patients in clinical stage I showed a 5-year survival rate of 100%, with a p-value < 0.001 and an HR of 0.01. Additionally, the combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery was found to be significantly associated with improved survival, with a p-value of 0.03 and an HR of 0.82. Conclusions: This study provides crucial information on the clinical characteristics and survival of Guatemalan patients with rectal cancer. The findings underscore the importance of early detection and multimodal treatment, including chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery, to improve outcomes in these patients. Sharing these results is essential to promote access to standard treatment and enhance survival outcomes in patients with rectal cancer in Guatemala.