Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Clin Oncol. Jul 24, 2026; 17(7): 122710
Published online Jul 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.122710
Published online Jul 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.122710
Multicenter nomogram integrating clinicopathological features for prognosis in stage II-III deficient/microsatellite instability-high rectal cancer
De-Yao Zhang, Yi-Jun Liao, Xin Tang, Gong Chen, Rong-Xin Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China
De-Yao Zhang, Yi-Jun Liao, Xin Tang, Gong Chen, Rong-Xin Zhang, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China
Co-first authors: De-Yao Zhang and Yi-Jun Liao.
Author contributions: Zhang DY, Liao YJ, and Tang X contributed to conceptualization, data curation, methodology and manuscript drafting; Chen G and Zhang RX supervised the study and revised the manuscript; Zhang DY and Liao YJ contributed equally to this work; Zhang DY was responsible for the study design, statistical analysis (including the random forest modeling and nomogram construction); Liao YJ contributed significantly to the multi-institutional clinical data curation, patient screening, and critical revision of the manuscript, both authors discussed the results, verified the data accuracy, and approved the final version, justifying their designation as co-first authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: ChatGPT was used exclusively for language polishing, including improvements in grammar, wording, clarity, and readability. No AI tool was used for data analysis, statistical analysis, or scientific interpretation. All AI-assisted revisions were carefully reviewed, edited, and approved by the authors, who take full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (approval No. SL-B2024-809-01).
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous clinical data that were obtained after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at
Corresponding author: Rong-Xin Zhang, MD, PhD, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, No. 651 Dongfeng East Road, Guangzhou 510060, Guang
Received: April 28, 2026
Revised: June 10, 2026
Accepted: July 9, 2026
Published online: July 24, 2026
Processing time: 90 Days and 2.7 Hours
Revised: June 10, 2026
Accepted: July 9, 2026
Published online: July 24, 2026
Processing time: 90 Days and 2.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Deficient/microsatellite instability-high rectal cancer has distinct biological features, but postoperative risk assessment is still largely based on tumor-node-metastasis stage. This multicenter exploratory cohort highlights lymphova