Multi-omic biomarkers of neoadjuvant treatment response in rectal cancer: A narrative review
Blood-based biomarkers and AI-powered imaging show promise for predicting which rectal cancer patients can safely avoid surgery, potentially preserving quality of life.
This comprehensive narrative review from KU Leuven's oncology team synthesizes multi-omic and AI-based approaches for predicting neoadjuvant treatment response in rectal cancer, with ctDNA and liquid biopsy biomarkers showing particular promise for dynamic MRD monitoring. The review identifies immune microenvironment features and AI-driven imaging as the strongest current predictors, while calling for prospective validation to enable organ-preservation strategy personalization.
What the study was
- Study design
- Narrative review (PubMed/MEDLINE, 2015–2026)
- Population
- Rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy
- Category
- Early Detection
- Maturity
- Exploratory
- Journal
- European Journal of Surgical Oncology
Why it surfaced
Strong institutional authorship (KU Leuven, Van Cutsem). Comprehensive multi-domain review integrating liquid biopsy, AI, genomics for rectal cancer response prediction. Narrative review limits evidence quality score.
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