ABSTRACT
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common solid tumours, of which approximately 40 per cent of patients have rectal cancer. Historically, surgery alone for rectal cancer has been associated with a high incidence of local recurrence. Additionally, some 10-40 per cent of patients with rectal cancer require extirpative procedures leading to a permanent stoma. A landmark retrospective study highlighted the poor prognosis for patients with rectal cancer, with a 5-year survival of 6 per cent in patients with pathologically Dukes C cancer.1
