Objective: To determine the outcome of rectal cancer in Naresuan University Cancer Program and the effect of healthcare coverage schemes on patient outcome.

Materials and Methods: The retrospective study was conducted by reviewing 163 patients, diagnosed with rectal cancer, from the cancer registry, based on Thai Cancer Based Version 6.2, between January 1, 2010 and August 31, 2018. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was applied for cumulative survival analysis.

Results: The overall 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival time for all rectal cancer were 87.03%, 64.94%, and 50.21%, respectively. The median survival time for stage IV was 1.60 years (95% CI 1.19 to 2.06). Liver metastasis was the most common single organ metastasis and associated with the worse outcome. There was no significant difference in patient survival between patients in Government Benefit scheme and patients in Universal Healthcare Coverage scheme.

Conclusion: The stage of disease and site of metastasis are the factors that significantly affect patient survival. Further studies with higher number of patients should be performed to evaluate the outcomes of rectal cancer treatments in different healthcare coverage schemes.

Keywords: Rectal cancer, Metastasis, Survival analysis, Healthcare coverage

Received 19 Jun 2019 | Revised 2 Sep 2019 | Accepted 9 Sep 2019