[«Watch and Wait» strategy in the management of rectal adenocarcinoma]

Currently, the standard management of locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the middle and lower rectum consists in first intention of pre-operative radio-chemotherapy. This treatment is then usually followed by rectal surgery with removal of the mesorectum. The local recurrence rate is quite low, but at the cost of a non negligible morbidity (urinary, anal and sexual functional sequelae). This raises the question of a possible sparing of surgery and therefore organ preservation in well selected patients with a complete response after radio-chemotherapy. The Brazilians are pioneers in this field. Already in 2004, their publications suggested that the «Watch and Wait» strategy was safe and effective in patients with a complete clinical response. Other publications have followed and tend to confirm that there is no oncological risk in proposing a «watch and wait» strategy for these well selected patients in complete clinical, endoscopic and iconographic remission on the basis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In these conditions, an attentive surveillance strategy allows to avoid operative morbi-mortality without oncological compromise. Monitoring is therefore multi-modal, clinical and endoscopic, but also based on MRI.