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 Surg. Oct 27, 2026; 18(10): 121168
Published online Oct 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.121168
Published online Oct 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.121168
Correlation between pathological response to neoadjuvant immunotherapy and long-term survival in locally advanced rectal cancer: A real-world study
Ke Zhang, General Surgery Center, Jiujiang City Key Laboratory of Cell Therapy, Jiujiang No. 1 People’s Hospital, Jiujiang 332000, Jiangxi Province, China
Zi-Jun Li, Department of Medical Oncology, Jiujiang City Key Laboratory of Cell Therapy, Jiujiang No. 1 People’s Hospital, Jiujiang 332000, Jiangxi Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang K responsible for research design, data collection, statistical analysis, and manuscript drafting; Li ZJ guided the research, reviewed, finalized the manuscript, and took overall responsibility for the study. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
AI contribution statement: The authors declare that no AI tools were used in the development or writing of this manuscript and take full responsibility for its integrity, accuracy, and originality.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Jiujiang No. 1 People’s Hospital (Approval No. JJSDYRMYY-YXLL-115).
Informed consent statement: All individuals who participated in this study provided written informed consent prior to study enrolment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Corresponding author: Zi-Jun Li, Research Fellow, Department of Medical Oncology, Jiujiang City Key Laboratory of Cell Therapy, Jiujiang No. 1 People’s Hospital, No. 48 Taling South Road, Xunyang District, Jiujiang 332000, Jiangxi Province, China. ziyuan_0727@163.com
Received: April 24, 2026
Revised: June 2, 2026
Accepted: July 3, 2026
Published online: October 27, 2026
Processing time: 176 Days and 15.5 Hours
Revised: June 2, 2026
Accepted: July 3, 2026
Published online: October 27, 2026
Processing time: 176 Days and 15.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This real-world retrospective study evaluated the association between pathological response and long-term survival outcomes in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer receiving neoadjuvant immunotherapy. Results demonstrated high pathological response rates and suggested that better pathological regression may correlate with improved disease-free survival. These findings provide clinically relevant evidence supporting the prognostic value of pathological response following neoadjuvant immunotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer.