[Functional Outcome of Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy and Surgery in the Treatment of Rectal Cancer]

Treatment of rectal cancer is multimodal and based on tumour stage and location, as well as morphological and biological risk factors - using surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. In a large number of cases, there are several treatment options, some of which can cause similar and some of which can cause different functional limitations. Comparisons of functional outcomes between different treatment modalities are currently limited.This narrative review presents the functional outcomes of different treatment strategies for middle and lower third rectal cancer, as based on a literature search.This paper analyses the evidence on the functional outcomes of different treatment strategies, especially regarding fecal continence, urinary and sexual function. The functional outcome after organ-preserving strategies appears to be slightly better in terms of stool frequency compared to surgical therapy alone, but this has to be weighed up against chemotherapy-induced polyneuropathy and radiogenic toxicities such as cystitis, radionecrosis or fistula formation. In addition, the functional side effects of perioperative and surgical therapy accumulate in the event of incomplete remission. A few days of treatment during surgical therapy contrast with the significantly more protracted treatment of total neoadjuvant therapy. A conclusive evaluation based on the current evidence is only possible to a limited extent.This study emphasises the importance of providing patients with detailed information about the functional consequences, duration of treatment and possible complications and offers a decision-making aid for planning individual treatment, taking quality of life into account.