Watch & Wait: are we ready for all rectal cancers?

Tuesday, 1 December 2026, 10:00 am

Rodrigo Perez

São Paulo, BR

Perez argues that a “watch-and-wait” strategy for rectal cancer can spare selected patients the morbidity of radical surgery when they achieve a sustained complete clinical response after neoadjuvant therapy. But not all rectal cancers should be managed with watch-and-wait. Instead, he emphasizes that the approach requires rigorous patient selection, standardized response assessment, and intensive surveillance because residual or recurrent disease can occur. For colorectal surgeons, the key question is therefore not whether watch-and-wait should replace surgery, but whether multidisciplinary teams are equipped to identify appropriate candidates and safely manage surveillance and salvage surgery.

About Rodrigo Perez

Rodrigo Oliva Perez, MD, PhD, is a leading colorectal surgeon and researcher based in São Paulo, Brazil, with appointments at the University of São Paulo and Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz. He has made seminal contributions to the development and validation of watch-and-wait strategies, particularly in defining clinical complete response, patient selection, surveillance and the management of local regrowth. His work has been instrumental in shaping the contemporary evidence base for non-operative rectal cancer management and has contributed to the evolution of multidisciplinary, organ-preserving care.

European Colorectal Congress 2026

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