Some patients with rectal cancer may only need radiation and chemotherapy, with no surgery, according to a Nov. 2 report from Medscape.
A study presented at the virtual 2020 meeting of the American Society of Radiation Oncology looked at 90 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who went through short-course radiation therapy and then neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the report said. About half of those patients saw a clinical complete response and could skip surgery.
The study shows potential, but there isn't enough follow-up to see long-term side effects, Re-I. Chin, MD, a resident at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, told Medscape.
"For rectal cancer, both short-course radiation therapy and nonoperative management are emerging treatment paradigms that may be more cost-effective and convenient compared to long-course chemoradiation followed by surgery, [especially since] the COVID-19 pandemic ... has spurred changes in clinical practices in radiation oncology," Dr. Chin said.
Read the full report here.