Preventing Obstruction: Identifying Risk Criteria for Colon Cancer Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

In the FOxTROT trial, analyzing high-risk colon cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), researchers identified pre-treatment risk criteria to stratify obstruction risk. Among 699 patients, 4.3% developed obstruction. Two independent criteria, obstructing disease on endoscopy or inability to pass through the tumor, and stricturing disease on radiology or endoscopy, were associated with higher risk. This study enables safer selection for NAC, categorizing patients into very low, low, and high-risk groups based on these criteria.