Cancers (Dec 2022)
Strategies to Optimize Treatment for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer
Abstract
Neoadjuvant long-course concurrent chemoradiation plus surgery, followed by optional adjuvant chemotherapy, is a standard of care for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). However, this traditional approach has several limitations, including low pathological complete response (pCR) (10–25%), high metastasis rate (30–35%), and highly inconsistent compliance with adjuvant chemotherapy (25–75%). Treatment modalities for LARC have dramatically evolved in recent years. Multiple clinical trials have focused on optimizing strategies to achieve a win-win situation for oncologic outcomes and functions. Here, we review the latest studies into optimizing neoadjuvant treatment for LARC.
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