Fig. 3: Disease Free Survival (DFS) for laparoscopic TME with Denonvilliers’ fascia preservation (Exp-group) vs laparoscopic TME with Denonvilliers’ fascia resection (Con-group) at 3 years after surgery.

Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate survival probabilities over time and the log-rank test was applied to compare survival curves between two groups. a Patients with all stages of cancer. b Patients with TNM stage I cancer. c Patients with TNM stage II cancer. d Patients with TNM stage III cancer.