Chemotherapy ahead of resection increases the likelihood of clear surgical margins in locally advanced colon cancer compared with surgery upfront, Australian researchers have found.

Their study, believed to be the first meta-analysis to examine the issue, also showed no increase in adverse outcomes, including toxicity.

Firstly, the team carried out a systematic review of the literature from 2000 to 2020, finding eight studies that included a total of 752 patients with locally advanced colon cancer who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Just two of the studies were randomised controlled trials and suitable for meta-analysis: both compared neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by oncological resection with upfront surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy.