BACKGROUND: Long-course chemoradiotherapy (LCRT) with delayed surgery or short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) with immediate surgery is probably the most frequent regimen in the treatment of @entity5 . Debate is still going on whether SCRT or LCRT is more effective. So we performed this meta-analysis to evaluate the safety and efficacy of SCRT with immediate surgery versus LCRT with delayed surgery for the management of @entity5 . METHODS: Literature were searched from PubMed, Embase, Web of science, Cochrane Library up to May, 2014. Quality of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was evaluated according to the Cochrane's risk of bias tool of RCT. RevMan 5.3 was used for statistical analysis. Pooled risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were employed to explore heterogeneity. RESULTS: 16 trials were included in the qualitative systematic review. 12 trials were included in meta-analyses. 4 of them were RCTs; other 8 were non-RCTs. Meta-analysis demonstrated that there were no significant differences in overall survival (OS), disease free survival (DFS), local recurrence rate (LRR), distant @entity3 rate (DMR), sphincter preservation rate, R0 resection rate and late @entity137 . Compared with SCRT, LCRT obviously increased pCR rate [RR  =  0.15, 95%CI (0.08, 0.28), P  =  0.003], while LCRT obviously increased the grade 3-4 acute @entity137 [RR  =  0.13, 95%CI (0.06, 0.28), P  <  0.00001]. CONCLUSIONS: SCRT with immediate surgery is as effective as LCRT with delayed surgery for treatment of @entity5 in terms of OS, DFS, LRR, DMR, Sphincter preservation rate, R0 resection rate and late @entity137 . Though LCRT increased pCR rate, LCRT also increased acute @entity137 compared with SCRT. SCRT is a better choice in centers with a long waiting list or lack of medical resources.

Short-course preoperative radiotherapy with immediate surgery versus long-course chemoradiation with delayed surgery in the treatment of XXXX : A systematic review and meta-analysis.

@entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['rectal cancer'] @entity137 :: ('MESH:D064420', 'Disease') :: ['toxicity'] @entity3 :: ('MESH:D009362', 'Disease') :: ['metastasis']
@entity5 :: (MESH:D009369,Disease) :: ['rectal cancer']
