Research progress on neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy combined with immunotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer
Wang Yaqi, Xia Fan, Zhang Zhen
Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center / Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University / Shanghai Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology / Shanghai Clinical Research Center for Radiation Oncology, Shanghai 200032, China
Abstract：For locally advanced (T3-4/N+M0) rectal cancer (LARC), neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) followed by total mesorectal excision (TME) is the standard treatment, which have been demonstrated to decrease the local recurrence rate and increase the tumor response grade. However, the distant metastasis remains an unresolved issue. Radiotherapy and immunotherapy can supplement each other and the combination of the two treatments has a good theoretical basis. Recently, multiple clinical trials are ongoing in terms of the combination of nCRT and immunotherapy in LARC. These trials have achieved promising short-term efficacy in both microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) and microsatellite stable (MSS) rectal cancers, which could further improve the rate of tumor response and rate of pathological complete response, increase the possibility of organ preservation and "watch and wait" approach. Large-scale clinical trials need to be performed in the future to demonstrate these findings and to improve long-term prognosis.
Wang Yaqi,Xia Fan,Zhang Zhen. Research progress on neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy combined with immunotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer[J]. Chinese Journal of Radiation Oncology, 2023, 32(1): 70-74.
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2023, Vol. 32 
