Abstract
Surgery is the initial treatment of choice for most patients with rectal neoplasms. The objectives are to remove of tumor and drain the primary nodes. In stage I disease the surgical approach is thought to be sufficiently effective. However, at least in the case of abdominoperineal resection, this causes considerable morbidity. Therefore, at the present time, there are efforts to reduce the extent of the resection by applying other treatment modalities in stage I disease. After curative resection in stage II/III disease a considerable number of patients suffer from local recurrence or distant metastases. In these patients adjuvant therapy is currently recommended. In locally advanced disease, primary resection is not feasible. Different treatment settings which apply combinations of all treatment modalities are possible. The article reviews the literature and shows future directions.
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© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Budach, V., Schlenger, L., Feyer, P. (1996). Preoperative and Postoperative Radiotherapy in Rectal Carcinoma. In: Kreuser, ED., Schlag, P.M. (eds) New Perspectives in Molecular and Clinical Management of Gastrointestinal Tumors. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 142. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80035-1_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80035-1_17
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