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©2013 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 28, 2013; 19(36): 5964-5972
Published online Sep 28, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i36.5964
Published online Sep 28, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i36.5964
How reliable is current imaging in restaging rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy?
Paola De Nardi, Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milano, Italy
Michele Carvello, Department of Surgery, Utrecht University Medical Center, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands
Author contributions: De Nardi P and Carvello M contributed equally to conception, drafting and final approval of the article.
Correspondence to: Paola De Nardi, MD, Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milano, Italy. denardi.paola@hsr.it
Telephone: +39-2-26432852 Fax: +39-2-26432159
Received: April 23, 2013
Revised: May 21, 2013
Accepted: July 17, 2013
Published online: September 28, 2013
Revised: May 21, 2013
Accepted: July 17, 2013
Published online: September 28, 2013
Core Tip
Core tip: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy has become the standard treatment for patients with advanced rectal cancer allowing reduction of local recurrences and increased sphincters’ preservation. New trends have proposed the possibility to change the planned surgical resection after neoadjuvant treatment, in case of extensive tumor response, and several Authors claim limited resection or non operative “wait and see” policy. In this setting restaging plays a crucial role in identifying patients with complete response. The diagnostic accuracy in predicting tumor response of the currently available imaging techniques is extensively reviewed in order to determine the reliability.