Background: The aim of this study was to examine if Norwegian surgeons had a passive attitude to treatment of patients with local recurrence of rectal cancer after primary treatment and if attitudes to treatment differed between hospitals.
Material and methods: All 46 departments for gastrointestinal surgery in Norway answered a questionnaire detailing their policy for workup, referral and treatment of patients with pelvic recurrence after surgery for rectal cancer.
Results: All hospitals used MRI for evaluation of the pelvis. Most clinics initially considered the patients potentially curable. Many wished to refer the patients to hospitals with more competence. Most patients in Norway are treated in eight different departments. Most of the surgeons give preoperative chemoradiotherapy before surgical resection of the local recurrence.
Interpretation: There seems to be a reasonable consensus among Norwegian surgeons about treatment of recurrent rectal cancer. The doctors themselves have to a certain degree centralized the treatment. Patients with recurrent rectal cancer should be discussed in multidisciplinary teams.