Rectal Neoplasms
Recent clinical, regulatory, research and industry developments relating to this disease.
Neoadjuvant treatment of colorectal cancer: comprehensive review.
Update on Targeted Therapy and Immunotherapy for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.
Circulating Tumor DNA to Drive Treatment in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.
Preoperative Treatment of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.
What's happening now
An analyst briefing on current research, clinical, regulatory and industry activity surrounding this disease.
- 3 clinical trials with recent milestones.
Clinical MilestonesViewHide
- 2025-09-30A Multicenter, Open, Randomized, Phase II Trial：Short-course Radiotherapy or Long-course Chemoradiation Followed by mFOLFOXIRI Consolidation Chemotherapy for Organ Preservation in Low Rectal CancerPrimary completion
- 2025-09-09Phase II Randomized Study of Short Course Radiotherapy Based Total Neoadjuvant Therapy & Brachytherapy Boost With Or Without Chlorophyllin In Watch And Wait Suitable Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer (SCOTCH Study)Primary completion
- 2025-11-24ClinicalA Phase 1b/2 Trial of Preoperative Niraparib, Dostarlimab, and Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for the Treatment of Locally-advanced Rectal Cancers.Terminated
- 2025-09-30ClinicalA Multicenter, Open, Randomized, Phase II Trial：Short-course Radiotherapy or Long-course Chemoradiation Followed by mFOLFOXIRI Consolidation Chemotherapy for Organ Preservation in Low Rectal CancerPrimary completion
- 2025-09-09ClinicalPhase II Randomized Study of Short Course Radiotherapy Based Total Neoadjuvant Therapy & Brachytherapy Boost With Or Without Chlorophyllin In Watch And Wait Suitable Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer (SCOTCH Study)Primary completion
Research-associated treatments
Drugs and agents co-studied with this disease across the research literature — associative, not necessarily established treatments. Number shows shared papers.
Clinical trials
The current development programme across all trial phases.
Research activity
Key research shaping understanding of this disease, combining the latest publications with the most influential evidence.
Major themes8
- Rectal Neoplasms19
- Colonic Neoplasms16
- Colorectal Neoplasms15
- Circulating Tumor DNA2
- Liver Neoplasms2
- Neoadjuvant Therapy2
- Antineoplastic Agents1
- Chemoradiotherapy1
Leading journals6
- JAMA network open3
- Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research2
- Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology2
- Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN2
- The New England journal of medicine2
- BJS open1
Leading researchers8
- Bardelli A3
- Ciardiello F3
- Ciombor KK3
- Cremolini C3
- Deming D3
- Kennecke HF3
- Modest DP3
- Parikh A3
Affiliations (unnormalised)6
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center5
- Mayo Clinic3
- Cancer Center2
- Department of Clinical Oncology2
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)2
- Massachusetts General Hospital2
Disease biology
Key proteins & gene products studied in this disease. Number shows shared papers.
Related conditions
Diseases frequently studied alongside this one. Number shows shared papers.
Disease profile
A grounded synthesis of the condition — overview, causes, mechanism, risk factors and current standard of care.
Rectal neoplasms are tumors or cancer arising in the rectum. The supplied literature frames them within colorectal cancer, with attention to diagnosis, pathology, surgery, therapy, and mortality.
Rectal cancer is described as a heterogeneous disease with underlying genetic differences among tumors that influence behavior and prognosis. The literature highlights molecular pathways and biomarkers relevant to treatment selection, including EGFR, VEGF, DNA mismatch repair, and ctDNA-based monitoring of tumor evolution and response.
Treatment is described at the modality level as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, and total neoadjuvant therapy. For metastatic disease, doublet chemotherapy is standard, triplet therapy may be used in some previously untreated unresectable cases, and targeted therapy or immunotherapy may be used based on molecular features such as MSI-high or deficient mismatch repair status and EGFR/VEGF-related targets.
AI-generated summary grounded in MeSH and 6 peer-reviewed sources. Informational only — not medical advice. Generated 2026-07-07.
Reference
Authoritative identity, definition & identifiers.
Tumors or cancer of the RECTUM.
- Disease identity & definition — NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), public domain
- Clinical trials — ClinicalTrials.gov (U.S. National Library of Medicine)
- Research activity — Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI) + OpenAlex-derived paper links
- Related entities are derived from literature co-mention (studied together) — associative, not causal.