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‘Watch and wait’ after chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer
Author(s) -
Mullaney Tamara G.,
Lightner Amy L.,
Johnston Michael,
Keck James,
Wattchow David
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
anz journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.426
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-2197
pISSN - 1445-1433
DOI - 10.1111/ans.14352
Subject(s) - medicine , colorectal cancer , chemoradiotherapy , disease , observational study , neoadjuvant therapy , cohort , watchful waiting , oncology , general surgery , cancer , surgery , prostate cancer , breast cancer
Surgery remains the cornerstone of rectal cancer treatment. However, there is significant morbidity and mortality associated with pelvic surgery, and the past decade has illustrated that a cohort of rectal cancer patients sustain a remission of local disease with chemoradiation alone. Thus, questions remain regarding the optimal management for rectal cancer; namely, accurately identifying patients who have a complete pathologic response and determining the oncologic safety of the observational approach for this patient group. This review aims to summarize the current evidence to provide an overview to the ‘watch and wait’ approach in rectal cancer patients with a complete response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy.