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Organ Preservation in Rectal Cancer

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery Aims and scope

Abstract

A proportion of patients with rectal cancer who undergo neoadjuvant treatment end up with a complete pathological response. Because these patients have excellent oncological outcomes, many have questioned if surgical treatment in this population constitutes overtreatment. There is growing interest in watch and wait with selective organ preservation for rectal cancer patients. We review the fundamentals and key considerations of this approach including patient selection, available treatment regimens, assessment of response, long-term monitoring of response, and long-term oncological and functional outcomes.

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  1. Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Jonathan B. Yuval, Hannah M. Thompson & Julio Garcia-Aguilar

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  1. Jonathan B. Yuval
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Correspondence to Julio Garcia-Aguilar.

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Dr. Garcia-Aguilar has received honoraria from Intuitive Inc., Medtronic, and Johnson & Johnson. The research was funded in part by grant P30 CA008748 from the National Cancer Institute.

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Yuval, J.B., Thompson, H.M. & Garcia-Aguilar, J. Organ Preservation in Rectal Cancer. J Gastrointest Surg 24, 1880–1888 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11605-020-04583-w

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