PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes of @entity1 treated with chemoradiotherapy with a complete clinical response followed by either a "watch and wait" strategy or a total mesorectal excision. METHODS: This was an observational retrospective study from a single institute. @entity1 with locally advanced @entity5 following chemoradiotherapy with a complete clinical response from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2014 were included. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 18 @entity1 who opted for a "watch and wait" policy and 26 @entity1 who underwent radical surgery after achieving a complete clinical response. @entity1 had no documented treatment complications under the watch and wait policy, while 13 @entity1 who underwent radical surgery experienced significant morbidity. There were two local recurrences in the watch and wait group; both were treated with salvage resection and had no associated mortality. In the radical surgery group, 1 @entity1 showed an incomplete pathologic response (ypT0N1), and the remaining 25 @entity1 showed complete pathologic responses; 1 had a distant recurrence, which was managed non-operatively, and 2 @entity1 died of unrelated causes. The 5-year overall survival rate and median disease-free survival time were 100  % and 69.78  months in the watch and wait group and 92.30  % and 89.04  months in the radical surgery group. CONCLUSIONS: A watch and wait policy avoids the morbidity associated with radical surgery and preserves oncologic outcomes in our retrospective study from a single institute. It could be considered a therapeutic option in @entity1 with locally advanced @entity5 following chemoradiotherapy with a complete clinical response.

XXXX with complete clinical response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, surgery, or "watch and wait".

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient', 'Patients'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['rectal cancer']
@entity5 :: (MESH:D009369,Disease) :: ['Rectal cancer']
