Response to chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer: when NOT to operate

There is a group of patients with rectal cancer that experiences a complete response after chemoradiotherapy. This phenomenon poses several questions regarding the ideal treatment (surgery vs tailored follow up).

Not all cases are the same, and the watch-and-wait approach may be an option for fragile patients that will not tolerate radical surgery But what about young patients? Can they avoid oncological rectal resection? What are the benefits? Is long-term survival compromised?

In this lecture Geerard Beets will explain the historical aspects of this approach, the data currently available, and the criteria for patient selection and follow-up.