From organ preservation to selective surgery: How immunotherapy changes colorectal surgery?

Abstract

The emergence of immunotherapy has revolutionized the traditional treatment paradigm of colorectal cancer (CRC). Among them, immune checkpoint blockade has become the first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and has made significant progress in the treatment of locally advanced colorectal cancer (LACRC). We reviewed a series of clinical trials that have made breakthrough progress. We will emphasize the breakthrough progress in achieving organ preservation in patients with high microsatellite instability or DNA mismatch repair deficiency (MSI-H/dMMR), and based on this, we propose the concept of selective surgery, which includes selectively removing or preserving lymph nodes, with the aim of proving our idea through more research in the future.

Keywords

• Immunotherapy
• Colorectal cancer
• Locally advanced rectal cancer
• Organ preservation
• Lymph nodes tracing
• Selective surgery