Long-Term Outcomes of Local Excision Following Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

Background: Local excision might represent an alternative to total mesorectal excision for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who achieve a major or complete clinical response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

Methods: Between August 2005 and July 2011, 63 patients with mid-low rectal adenocarcinoma who had a major/complete clinical response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy were enrolled in a multicenter prospective phase 2 trial and underwent transanal full thickness local excision. The main endpoint of this study was to evaluate the 5- and 10-year overall, relapse-free, local, and distant relapse-free survival, which were calculated by applying the Kaplan-Meier method.