The optimal treatment of stage IV rectal cancer remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to assess the treatment outcomes and toxicity of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy followed by local treatment of all tumor sites and subsequent adjuvant chemotherapy in stage IV rectal cancer patients with potentially resectable metastases. | Li et al. BMC Cancer 2021 21 1333 https s12885-021-09089-5 RESEARCH Open Access Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy followed by resection ablation in stage IV rectal cancer patients with potentially resectable metastases Rongzhen Li1 2 Qiaoxuan Wang1 2 Bin Zhang3 Yan Yuan1 2 Weihao Xie1 2 Xiaoxue Huang1 2 Chengjing Zhou1 2 Shu Zhang1 2 Shaoqing Niu4 Hui Chang1 2 Dongni Chen2 5 Huikai Miao2 5 Zhi Fan Zeng1 2 Weiwei Xiao1 2 and Yuanhong Gao1 2 Abstract Background The optimal treatment of stage IV rectal cancer remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to assess the treatment outcomes and toxicity of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy followed by local treatment of all tumor sites and subsequent adjuvant chemotherapy in stage IV rectal cancer patients with potentially resectable metastases. Methods Adult patients diagnosed with locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma with potentially resectable metastases who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy from July 2013 and September 2019 at Sun Yat-sen University cancer center were included. Completion of the whole treatment schedule pathological response treatment-related toxicity and survival were evaluated. Results A total of 228 patients were analyzed with a median follow-up of 33 range to months. Eventually 112 patients finished the whole treatment schedule of which complete response of all tumor sites and patho- logical downstaging of the rectal tumor were observed in three and 90 patients. The three-year overall survival OS and progression-free survival PFS of all patients were to and 95 CI to respectively. For patients who finished the treatment schedule 3-year OS vs P Li et al. BMC Cancer 2021 21 1333 Page 2 of 10 resection rates of merely 5 15 4 6 . For patients Methods with unresectable metastases prognosis is poor. Patient population In recent years with the development of effective We .
