Non-surgical management of rectal cancer. Series of 68 cases, long follow up in two leading centres in Argentina.

Background: The non-surgical management in a selected group of rectal cancer patients has shown promising results with adequate follow up.

Aims: describing the results of the non-surgical management in patients with complete clinical response, with a close follow up.

Methods: Between 2006 and 2015, patients with rectal cancer, stages I-III, without metastasis, treated with neoadjuvant CRT/CT, who had clinical complete response were included.

Rectal cancer staging: focus on the prognostic significance of the findings described by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging.

High-resolution (HR) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an indispensable tool for multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) addressing rectal cancer. It provides anatomic information for surgical planning and allows patients to be stratified into different groups according to the risk of local and distant recurrence. One of the objectives of the MDT is the preoperative identification of high-risk patients who will benefit from neoadjuvant treatment.