Over the past decade, patients with locally advanced rectal cancer at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have been managed with preoperative chemoradiation. Patients achieving a complete clinical response to preoperative chemoradiation have had better pelvic tumor control, sphincter preservation, and overall survival than those with gross residual disease. Some patients achieving a complete clinical response have even had rectal-preserving surgery (full-thickness local excision).
