Does stage II rectal cancer require chemotherapy?
Whether a stage II colorectal cancer patient needs adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery depends on the specific circumstances. For example, stage IIA patients are classified as T3, N0, M0. The necessity of adjuvant chemotherapy for these patients should be determined based on the pathological report. If the report indicates the presence of vascular invasion, neural invasion, poor differentiation, or if microsatellite stability testing shows poor prognostic factors, then such patients should undergo postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. If none of these conditions are present in a stage IIA patient, then postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy may not be necessary. Generally, stage IIB patients, whose tumors have penetrated the full thickness of the intestinal wall, are recommended to undergo postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Therefore, the specific conditions of the patient need to be considered.