Impact of Fluoropyrimidine and Oxaliplatin-based Chemoradiotherapy in Patients With Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

Background/Aim: To evaluate the benefits of the addition of oxaliplatin (OX) to fluoropyrimidine (FP)-based neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for patients with locally advanced rectal cancers (LARCs). Patients and Methods: We performed retrospective analyses comparing the pathological complete response (pCR) rate, overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) between FP-based and FP+OX-based CRT groups and for patients who had completed the CRT. Results: One hundred patients were included in the analyses: the pCR rate, OS, RFS, and LRFS were similar between these groups. The FP+OX group showed significantly more frequent incompleteness of the CRT compared to the FP group (p=0.049). Among the patients who had completed the CRT, the FP+OX group demonstrated significantly improved LRFS compared to the FP group (p=0.048). Conclusion: The addition of OX to an FP regimen in neoadjuvant CRT for LARC may reduce local recurrence in patients who have achieved good compliance to CRT.