Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Jun 24, 2024; 15(7): 790-795
Published online Jun 24, 2024. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v15.i7.790
Neoadjuvant treatment of rectal cancer: Where we are and where we are going
Elísabet González Del Portillo, Felipe Couñago, Fernando López-Campos
Elísabet González Del Portillo, Department of Radiation Oncología, Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid 28046, Spain
Felipe Couñago, Department of Radiation Oncology, GenesisCare Madrid, Madrid 28010, Spain
Fernando López-Campos, Department of Radiation Oncology, Hospital Universitario Ramón Y Cajal, Madrid 28034, Spain
Author contributions: González Del Portillo E performed research, wrote and reviewed the paper; Couñago F wrote and reviewed the paper; López-Campos F wrote and reviewed the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.
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: Felipe Couñago, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Radiation Oncology, GenesisCare Madrid, Modesto La Fuente, Madrid 28010, Spain. fcounago@gmail.com
Received: January 11, 2024
Revised: April 28, 2024
Accepted: May 17, 2024
Published online: June 24, 2024
Processing time: 186 Days and 21.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: The treatment of rectal cancer is well-established, based on total neoadjuvant treatment followed by deferred surgery. However, the development of biomarkers is necessary to predict which patients will achieve a complete pathological response and, therefore, may not require surgical treatment. The advent of new imaging techniques and their morphological, metabolic, and functional information pave the way for defining criteria for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who are candidates for a conservative strategy.