Background: Local excision of low-lying adenocarcinoma of the rectum is increasingly utilized, but the benefit of adjuvant treatment in T1 lesions with otherwise favorable pathology remains controversial.

Methods: A retrospective review was performed on patients who underwent local excision of invasive rectal cancer with curative intent from 1991 to 1999.

Results: Forty-eight patients were treated with local surgical excision. Twenty-seven T1 lesions were identified, 10 received postoperative chemoradiation, and no local recurrences were identified. Seventeen T1 patients did not receive adjuvant treatment and local recurrence occurred in 4 patients (24%). In all cases of local recurrence, the lesions had been excised to negative margins, none were poorly differentiated, and none exhibited vascular or lymphatic invasion.

Conclusion: These data suggest a trend toward improved local control with adjuvant therapy after local excision of T1 rectal cancer. This is an important consideration in patients with negative surgical margins and favorable pathology who are traditionally not treated.