Combined modality therapy for rectal cancer.
The standard adjuvant treatment for cT3 and/or N+ rectal cancer is preoperative chemoradiation. However, there are many controversies regarding this approach. These include the role of short course radiation, whether postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy necessary for all patients and whether the type of surgery after chemoradiation should be based on the response rate. More accurate imaging techniques and/or molecular markers may help identify patients with positive pelvic nodes to reduce the chance of overtreatment with preoperative therapy. Will more effective systemic agents both improve the results of radiation as well as modify the need for pelvic radiation? These questions and others remain active areas of clinical investigation.
Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. bruce.minsky@uchospitals.edu
Bruce D
BD
Minsky
Claus
C
Röedel
Vincenzo
V
Valentini
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents