Advances in the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer

Locally advanced rectal cancer requires multidisciplinary care. In the United States, most patients are treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation delivered over 25-28 days, total mesorectal excision, and 4 months of adjuvant chemotherapy. While effective, this trimodal approach is arduous. Alternative approaches have emerged to streamline treatment without sacrificing oncologic outcomes. These approaches include preoperative chemotherapy with selective use of radiation, short-course radiotherapy delivered over 5 days, and total neoadjuvant therapy with attempted nonoperative organ-preserving management (watch and wait). Ongoing trials are assessing the efficacies of these approaches in combination with various risk stratification strategies.