title: The role of total mesorectal excision in the management of rectal cancer.
abstract: During the past decade, it has been clearly demonstrated that adjuvant treatment has the potential of improving not only prognosis in terms of local recurrence, but also in terms of overall survival. However, one of the largest improvements in the outcome of rectal cancer has been the introduction of total mesorectal excision. TME, with its large decline in local recurrence rate, has become the new standard of operative management for rectal cancers, replacing conventional resection technique [68]. In addition, current clinical trials examining the role of adjuvant therapy in patients who are undergoing standardized operations are now setting the standard of surgical care in several countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery K6-R, Leiden University Medical Center, Post Office Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kapiteijn
authors.forename: C J H
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: van de Velde
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D003107:Colorectal Surgery / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local