Importance Treatment of locally advanced rectal (LARC) cancer involves chemoradiation,
surgery, and chemotherapy. The concept of total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT), in which
chemoradiation and chemotherapy are administered prior to surgery, has been developed
to optimize delivery of effective systemic therapy aimed at micrometastases. Objective To
compare the traditional approach of preoperative chemoradiation (chemoRT) followed by
postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with the more recent TNT approach for LARC. Design …