Modern rectal cancer management: A review of total neoadjuvant therapy and current practices

Abstract

Total Neoadjuvant Therapy (TNT) is a promising strategy for treating locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) and has started to replace the traditional neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT). This review combines findings from pivotal studies that helped TNT to integrate into clinical practice. It emphasizes the efficacy of TNT in improving the disease-free and metastasis-free survival, pathologic complete response and, according to recent studies, a potential improvement in overall survival when compared to standard CRT. In addition, the review analyzes increased organ preservation by TNT and explores the trend towards personalized medicine with the use of TNT. Additionally, it investigates the possibility of excluding radiotherapy in some subgroups. Future directions include integration of immunotherapy, use of TNT in early-stage disease and determining optimal components of TNT, such as type of chemotherapy and type of radiotherapy.