摘要
According to the main international clinical guidelines,the recommended treatment for locally-advanced rectal cancer is neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery.However,doubts have been raised about the appropriate definition of clinical complete response(cCR)after neoadjuvant therapy and the role of surgery in patients who achieve a cCR.Surgical resection is associated with significant morbidity and decreased quality of life(QoL),which is especially relevant given the favourable prognosis in this patient subset. Accordingly, therehas been a growing interest in alternative approaches with less morbidity,including the organ-preserving watch and wait strategy, in which surgery isomitted in patients who have achieved a cCR. These patients are managed with aspecific follow-up protocol to ensure adequate cancer control, including the earlyidentification of recurrent disease. However, there are several open questionsabout this strategy, including patient selection, the clinical and radiologicalcriteria to accurately determine cCR, the duration of neoadjuvant treatment, therole of dose intensification (chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy), optimal followupprotocols, and the future perspectives of this approach. In the present review,we summarize the available evidence on the watch and wait strategy in thisclinical scenario, including ongoing clinical trials, QoL in these patients, and thecontroversies surrounding this treatment approach.
