Critical reappraisal of neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy for treatment of locally advanced colon cancer

Locally advanced colon cancer (LACC) is associated with surgical challenges during R0 resection, increased postoperative complications, and unfavorable treatment outcomes. Neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by surgical resection is an effective treatment strategy that can increase the complete surgical resection rate and improve the patient survival rate. This study investigated the efficacy and toxicity of concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with LACC as well as the prognosis and long-term clinical outcomes of these patients. From January 2012 to July 2020, we retrospectively reviewed the real-world data of 75 patients with LACC who received neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The chemotherapy regimen consisted of folinic acid, 5-fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX). The following data were obtained from medical records: patients' characteristics, pathologic results, toxicity, and long-term oncologic outcome. Of the 75 patients, 13 (17.3%) had pathologic complete responses. Hematologic adverse effects were the most common (grade 1 anemia: 80.0% and leukopenia: 82.7%). Conversely, grade 2 or 3 adverse effects were relatively uncommon (