Watch and wait or surgery for clinical complete response in rectal cancer: a need to study both sides

Abstract

In patients with rectal cancer who achieve clinical complete response (cCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT), watch and wait (W&W) is a novel management strategy with the potential to avoid major surgery.[1] W&W is not yet standard of care, nor is it offered routinely. The 2019 UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines [2] recommend that deferral of surgery in this setting should be in the context of a clinical trial or national registry.