A prospective clinical study assessing the presence of exfoliated cancer cells and rectal washout including tumors in patients who receive neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer

Purpose Rectal washout is performed in rectal cancer surgery to eliminate exfoliated cancer cells. Before rectal washout, a cross-clamp should generally be placed distal to the tumor. In some patients with lower rectal cancer, however, the tumor cannot be adequately isolated. We, therefore, hypothesized that neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) can decrease the number of exfoliated cancer cells even after the rectal washout including tumors.