Perioperative chemotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced forms of colon cancer: literature review

Abstract

Neoadjuvant systemic therapy is standard of care for many tumors, especially of gastrointestinal ones. Neoadjuvant therapy has many potential advantages, including tumor downstaging, early treatment of micrometastatic disease and possibility to evaluate tumor biology in order to personalize treatment. Currently, perioperative chemotherapy isn’t the standard of treatment of advanced colon cancer. Limitations to widespread use of systemic therapy have included inaccurate radiological staging, concerns about tumor progression and a lack of randomized data.