Surgical treatment of rectal cancer after neo-adjuvant chemoradiation. Where are we going ?

Anterior resection of the rectum and abdominoperineal resection with total mesorectal excision represent the standard surgical approach after preoperative chemoradiation in rectal cancer. Many clinical trials seem to validate laparoscopic approach, even if long-term outcome has not been still reported. Some authors recently focused their research on organ-saving surgery, either local excision or non-operative treatment. In this paper we present a brief revision of what rectal cancer treatment is reaching.