Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40059308›Full record

ArticleColorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland2025

The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in rectal cancer: A nationwide cohort study from the Netherlands.

Aaya Darai, Tijmen Koëter, Felice N van Erning, Robbert J van Alphen, Henk M W Verheul, Marcel Verheij, David D E Zimmerman, Pauline A J Vissers, Johannes H W de Wilt

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in rectal cancer: A nationwide cohort study from the Netherlands.Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Aaya DaraiDepartment of Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0000-6138-6398
Tijmen KoëterDepartment of Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-1746-8684
Felice N van ErningDepartment of Research and Development, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organization (IKNL), Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Robbert J van AlphenDepartment of Oncology, Elisabeth TweeSteden Hospital, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Henk M W VerheulDepartment of Oncology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Marcel VerheijDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
David D E ZimmermanDepartment of Surgery, Elisabeth TweeSteden Hospital, Tilburg, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-0393-9350
Pauline A J VissersDepartment of Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Johannes H W de WiltDepartment of Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimTreatment of rectal cancer has improved significantly over the past decades. However, the role of adjuvant chemotherapy remains a matter of debate. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between adjuvant chemotherapy and overall survival of patients with rectal cancer.

methodData from the Netherlands Cancer Registry were used to evaluate all nonmetastatic pathological node-positive patients who underwent treatment for rectal cancer during the time period 2009-2020 in the Netherlands. Patients were grouped according to whether they received adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients were further divided into three groups according to the type of preoperative treatment. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied based on patient-related variables, tumour-related variables and treatment-related variables. The matching procedure for PSM was done with nearest neighbour and without replacement employing a 1:1 ratio. Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed after PSM to compare overall survival.

resultsA total of 7479 patients were included, of whom 865 (11.6%) underwent adjuvant chemotherapy. After PSM the no neoadjuvant treatment group included 240 patients per study arm, the neoadjuvant radiotherapy group 317 and the neoadjuvant chemoradiation group 182 patients. A significant difference in 5-year survival was found comparing adjuvant versus no adjuvant chemotherapy in all subgroups: no neoadjuvant treatment 54.6% vs. 40.8% (p = 0.003), neoadjuvant radiotherapy 77.0% vs. 53.9% (p < 0.001) and neoadjuvant chemoradiation 68.1% vs. 45.6% (p < 0.001).

conclusionAdjuvant chemotherapy was associated with an improved 5-year survival in all subgroups. The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of rectal cancer should be reconsidered in node-positive patients.

Indexed as

Rectal NeoplasmsAdultAgedChemoradiotherapy, AdjuvantChemotherapy, AdjuvantCohort StudiesFemaleHumansKaplan-Meier EstimateMaleMiddle AgedNeoadjuvant TherapyNetherlandsPropensity ScoreRegistrieschemotherapyrectal cancerrectal surgerysystemic therapy

Identifiers

PMID40059308
PMCPMC11891379

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.