Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jun 15, 2026; 18(6): 117694
Published online Jun 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i6.117694
Published online Jun 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i6.117694
Tumor-related imaging parameters predict response and survival after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer
Ting-Ting Nie, Tao Liu, Xiao-Fang Guo, Yu-Lin Liu, Department of Radiology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China
Yu-Xia Li, Xiao-Hui Niu, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China
Xuan Yang, Department of Radiology, Wuhan Children’s Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430014, Hubei Province, China
Co-first authors: Ting-Ting Nie and Yu-Xia Li.
Co-corresponding authors: Xiao-Fang Guo and Yu-Lin Liu.
Author contributions: Nie TT and Li YX drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content, approved the version to be published, have agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved as co-first authors; Li YX, Yang X, Liu T, and Niu XH have made a substantial contribution to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the article; Guo XF and Liu YL have made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the article as co-corresponding authors; all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
AI contribution statement: The use of ChatGPT in this study was strictly limited to language polishing of author-written content. The AI tool did not contribute to the intellectual content of the manuscript in any way.
Supported by Guiding Program of Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, No. 2024AFC050; Special Project of Biomedical Research Center of Hubei Cancer Hospital, No. 2022SWZX06; and Hubei Province “Chutian Talents Program” Medical and Health Personnel Project, No. CTYC001.
Institutional review board statement: This retrospective study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Hubei Cancer Hospital in compliance with ethical principles derived from the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments, No.[2020]KYLL(S05).
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was waived because the study was approved by the Ethics Committee with an exemption from obtaining individual informed consent. This study involved no direct contact with participants and collected only baseline clinical data from outpatient and inpatient medical records. All identifying information was removed prior to analysis to ensure confidentiality and protect personal privacy. Therefore, the study posed no more than minimal risk to the participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Xiao-Fang Guo, MD, PhD, Department of Radiology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 116 Zhuodaoquan South Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China.
Received: December 15, 2025
Revised: January 6, 2026
Accepted: February 5, 2026
Published online: June 15, 2026
Processing time: 178 Days and 2.8 Hours
Revised: January 6, 2026
Accepted: February 5, 2026
Published online: June 15, 2026
Processing time: 178 Days and 2.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study evaluated the impact of pretreatment sarcopenia and tumor-related magnetic resonance imaging parameters on the response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and overall survival in rectal cancer patients. The results show that while sarcopenia was not an independent predictor of treatment response or survival, tumor-related factors such as tumor length, mesorectal fascia involvement, and clinical T/N stage were significant predictors. These findings highlight the value of tumor-related imaging parameters in pretreatment risk stratification and personalized management for rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.