The feasibility and efficiency of wait and see policy for patients with

 

complete clinical response following neoadjuvant therapy in rectal cancer:

 

A prospective cohort study from China. First Author: Jin Gu， Peking University Cancer Hospital， Beijing， China

 

Background:?It has been reported that non-operative treatment (wait and see) is feasible for the selected rectal cancer cases with a complete clinical response (cCR) following neoadjuvant therapy (NT). The aim of this study is to determine whether "wait and see" policy is efficient for the cCR patients in China.?Methods:?We designed a prospective cohort study in China (ChiCTR-TRC-12002488). From Jul 2012 to August 2016， totally 45 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who were cCR following NT were enrolled in the study; within whom， 32 patients were assigned to wait and see group， and the remaining 13 patients were assigned to surgery group (intent-to-treat grouping).?Results:?The median follow-up time was 24 months (range: 3-51). Of the patients who were followed up more than 12 months (n=37)， 8 patients developed tumor progression (7 in wait and see group and 1 in surgery group， respectively). In the wait and see group， the local regrowth took an account of 23.1% (6/26)， while the distant metastasis rate was 3.8% (1/26). In the surgery group， there were 23.1% (3/13) of patients who has residual cancer confirmed by postoperative pathological assessment. All the patients with tumor regrowth underwent radical surgery and no body died of cancer.?Conclusions:?Wait and see policy has an acceptable safety and efficiency， it may become an alternative treatment for the patients who were cCR following NT. Clinical trial information: ChiCTR-TRC-12002488.