Nonoperative approach to locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant combined modality therapy: challenges and opportunities from a surgical perspective.

This review contains a surgical perspective on the evolution of the nonoperative approach to patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who have a clinical complete response after neoadjuvant combined modality therapy, including accuracy of pathologic complete response identification, the timing between neoadjuvant combined modality therapy and assessment of response, the extent of long-term follow-up, and the likelihood of surgical salvage after an initial nonoperative approach.