Completion Surgery after Non-Curative Local Resection of Early Rectal Cancer.

Background: The expanding indications of local - endoscopic and transanal surgical - resection of early rectal cancer has led to their increased popularity and inclusion in the treatment guidelines. The accuracy of the current diagnostic tools in identifying the low-risk T1 tumors that can be curatively treated with a local resection is low, and thus several patients require additional oncologic surgery with total mesorectal excision (TME). An efficient clinical strategy which avoids overtreatment and obstacle surgical procedures is under debate between different disciplines.