Is rectal cancer prone to metastasize to lymph nodes than colon cancer?

The biology of colorectal cancer differs according to its location within the large intestine. A report published in a previous issue of World Journal of Gastroenterology (November 2010) evaluated the importance of tumor location as a risk factor for lymph node metastasis in colorectal cancer, and showed that rectal cancer is prone to metastasize to lymph nodes as compared with colon cancer. However, in order to conclude that the tumor location is independently associated with the occurrence of lymph node metastasis, it is necessary to consider a selection bias or other patient- and tumor-related factors carefully.