Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malign tumors in men and women all over the world. In spite of prevention advances in the last few years, worldwide incidence remains significant, about one million per year. Objectives Evaluate rectal cancer survival in patients diagnosed and surgically treated at the Cancer Reference Unit at Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil. Methods Observational retrospective study composed by 135 patients assisted from 2007 to 2014 at Doctor Luiz Antonio Hospital, Natal, Brazil. Data were collected from the patient records revision and survival rates were calculated and analyzed by non-parametric Kaplan–Meier and Wilcoxon tests, respectively. All patients were submitted to surgical treatment, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Results Overall survival was 62% in seven years, while disease-free survival in one, three and five years was 91.7%, 75.5% and 72.1%, respectively. Conclusion Overall survival and disease-free survival remained enhanced until the end of the study, suggesting that the treatment protocols used in the institution have shown to be effective.