Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 14, 2023; 29(6): 1011-1025
Published online Feb 14, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i6.1011
Implications of recent neoadjuvant clinical trials on the future practice of radiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer
Min Kyu Kang
Min Kyu Kang, Department of Radiation Oncology, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41944, South Korea
Min Kyu Kang, Department of Radiation Oncology, Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital, Daegu 40414, South Korea
Author contributions: Kang MK is the sole author of this manuscript and is solely responsible for its content; Kang MK performed all the research and collected, analyzed, and interpreted all the data, prepared and wrote the manuscript and performed all critical revisions; Kang MK has overall responsibility for this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no relevant conflicts of interest to report for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Min Kyu Kang, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital, 807 Hoguk-ro, Buk-gu, Daegu 40414, South Korea. mkkang@knu.ac.kr
Received: November 18, 2022
Peer-review started: November 18, 2022
First decision: November 30, 2022
Revised: December 8, 2022
Accepted: January 29, 2023
Article in press: January 29, 2023
Published online: February 14, 2023
Processing time: 83 Days and 18.3 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: In locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), recent randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the benefits of total neoadjuvant treatment (TNT) in terms of oncologic outcomes and organ preservation. The results of clinical trials of immunotherapy suggest the possibility of pelvic radiotherapy in combination with immunotherapy for LARC. However, the radiotherapy details used in clinical trials have not changed significantly. This study reviewed recent neoadjuvant clinical trials evaluating TNT and immunotherapy from a radiation oncologist’s perspective to guide future radiotherapy for LARC.