The multidisciplinary treatment of rectal cancer: pathology.

In the multidisciplinary treatment of rectal cancer various disciplines are involved to make treatment decisions. Pathology is one of them, being involved in both preoperative and postoperative patient evaluation. In the current review the preoperative role is described briefly and it focuses mainly on the postoperative evaluation. This evaluation is not only the assessment of tumour invasion, margins and lymph node status but effects of neo-adjuvant therapy and surgical technique can be judged as well and have profound clinical value. Moreover, based on certain histological characteristics further treatment decisions can be made.