Short-Course TNT Outperforms Long-Course Treatment in Rectal Cancer

A multi-institutional review of 857 patients demonstrated that short-course total neoadjuvant therapy (sc TNT) significantly increases complete response (CR) rates in rectal cancer compared to long-course chemoradiation (lCRT). Specifically, CR rates were 34.1% for sc TNT versus 20.3% for lCRT. Notably, patients completing 5-6 months of consolidation chemotherapy had a CR rate of 42.9%. Despite this, three-year progression-free survival rates were analogous between the two treatments.