title: New directions in the preoperative management of adenocarcinoma of the rectum.
abstract: Pathological complete response is observed in nearly 20% of patients with rectal cancer receiving preoperative chemoradiation. Patients who achieve a pathological complete response have better outcomes compared to patients experiencing no response or partial response. Current strategies have not demonstrated a substantial improvement in augmenting the ratio of responders to partial and nonresponders. The following discussion addresses possible strategies of investigation to increase patients achieving a complete obliteration of rectal tumors following neoadjuvant chemoradio therapies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas VA Medical Center, 4500 S. Lancaster Road, Dallas, TX 75225, USA. Sergio.Huerta@UTSouthwestern.edu
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huerta
mesh_terms: D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*