Oxaliplatin-based combined-modality therapy for rectal cancer.

There are two conventional treatments for clinically resectable rectal cancer. The first is surgery, and, if the tumor is T3 and/or N1-2, this is followed by postoperative combined-modality therapy. The second, for patients with ultrasound T3 or clinical T4 disease, is preoperative combined-modality therapy followed by surgery and postoperative chemotherapy. In this review, the results of these approaches as well as novel combined-modality approaches using oxaliplatin-based regimens will be presented.