Delaying surgery ‘tied to poor survival’ in rectal cancer
The study suggests a need to revise current practice of waiting for patients to respond to chemoradiation, researchers say
Surgery should not be delayed in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who do not respond well to neoadjuvant chemoradiation, Italian doctors warn.
The advice follows results from a multicentre, retrospective cohort study showing that a longer interval between chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and total mesorectal excision (TME) is associated with worse survival rates in such patients.
