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 Clin Oncol. Aug 24, 2026; 17(8): 123375
Published online Aug 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.123375
Published online Aug 24, 2026. doi: 10.5306/wjco.123375
Near-complete clinical response after neoadjuvant therapy in rectal cancer: Decision-making between organ preservation and surgery
Thanat Tantinam, Surgical Unit, Phatthalung Hospital, Mueang Phatthalung 93000, Phatthalung, Thailand
Thanat Tantinam, Kullawat Bhatanaprabhabhan, Boonchai Ngamsirimas, Rangsima Thiengthiantham, Nataphon Santrakul, Punnawat Chandrachamnong, Suradet Buakhrun, Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University, Bangkok 10300, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, Thailand
Thanat Tantinam, Pawit Sutharat, Suwan Sanmee, Ekkarin Supatrakul, Division of Colorectal Surgery and Clinical Surgical Research Center, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Author contributions: Tantinam T and Buakhrun S contributed to interpretation of the data, and drafting of the manuscript; Tantinam T, Bhatanaprabhabhan K, Ngamsirimas B, Sutharat P, Thiengthiantham R, Santrakul N, Sanmee S, Supatrakul E, Buakhrun S, and Chandrachamnong P contributed to the conception and design of the study, critical revision of important intellectual content of the manuscript, and provision of final approval of the version to be published. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
AI contribution statement: An AI tool (Claude, Anthropic, Sonnet 5) was used during the preparation of this manuscript. No portion of the main text was AI-generated; the investigators authored all content and conclusions. The AI tool was used only for language polishing and formatting assistance in the responses to reviewers; it was not used for translation, data analysis, or independent writing assistance. As this is a minireview, no formal study design was involved; the selection, synthesis, and interpretation of the literature were performed entirely by the authors, with no AI involvement. No images in the manuscript were AI-generated. All AI-assisted text was critically reviewed, verified, and edited by the authors, who take full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the content.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Suradet Buakhrun, MD, Consultant, Lecturer, Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Vajira Hospital, Navamindradhiraj University, 681 Samsen Road, Dusit, Bangkok 10300, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, Thailand.
Received: May 19, 2026
Revised: July 10, 2026
Accepted: July 28, 2026
Published online: August 24, 2026
Processing time: 100 Days and 18.4 Hours
Revised: July 10, 2026
Accepted: July 28, 2026
Published online: August 24, 2026
Processing time: 100 Days and 18.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Near-complete clinical response after neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer is a biologically heterogeneous entity comprising distinct favorable and unfavorable subgroups. Optimal management requires individualized assessment of response trajectory rather than observation duration alone to guide organ-preservation decisions.