State of the art and recent advance in the treatment of resectable nonmetastatic rectal cancer

SummaryIntroductionStandard treatment is achieving good local control for rectal cancer. Innovative approach is aiming at increasing conservative treatment.MethodologyStrong evidence relies on randomized trials. Phase I and II trials are the method to evaluate advances.ResultsPreoperative radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy is the standard treatment for most of the T3 (4) tumors. To increase conservative treatment innovative neoadjuvant treatment achieving complete clinical response is a promising approach.ConclusionWell-conducted clinical trials are improving the standard treatments and are evaluating new hypotheses.