Direct-to-Surgery for Stage II/III Rectal Cancer Yields Strong Results

For selected patients with stage II or III rectal cancer, a direct-to-surgery approach led to favorable 2-year oncologic outcomes.

Local recurrence rate was just 1% among patients undergoing low anterior resection.
Disease-free survival was 85%, and overall survival reached 99%.

Surprisingly, only 8% of patients required post-operative radiation therapy.

Preoperative MRI overstaged 51% of patients who were ultimately confirmed as stage I.

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