Organ preservation in rectal cancer: towards the norm rather than the exception

Abstract

The optimal management of rectal cancer is complex, with a wide array of combined-modality options. There has been a paradigm shift in attitudes to organ preservation as a treatment strategy for rectal cancer. In expanded prospective studies, the seminal findings of Habr-Gama and colleagues ¹ have been replicated in Europe and North America ^2–5. Organ preservation is no longer an opportunistic strategy following a favourable treatment response, but an early objective that should be discussed actively by patients and clinicians. Importantly, prospective trials evaluating organ preservation in both early and locally advanced rectal cancer are now reporting encouraging results.