A study looking at the treatment of rectal cancer that starts very low down in the bowel (Low Rectal Cancer Study)

Doctors usually treat cancer that starts in the rectum  with surgery. Some people may also have radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

When you have surgery to remove cancer, the doctors want to make sure that they take out an area of tissue around the cancer that doesn’t contain any cancer cells. This is what is known as a clear margin of tissue. This is important, because having a clear margin means there is less chance of the cancer coming back.

Scans such as an MRI can help doctors to plan and modify the operation and get clear margins. In this study, the researchers want to find out how much the scans help. They also want to find out how much treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy help. And they want to see what effect treatment has on people’s lives.

If you take part in the study, the researchers will look at your medical notes to find details of the scans, the type of operation and any other treatment you have. They will look at some of the tissue removed when you have your operation. And they will ask you to fill in a number of questionnaires.

The aims of the study are to

• See if it is possible to make sure that more people get clear margins when they have cancer removed from the lowest part of the rectum
• Find out how much this helps to reduce the number of cancers that come back
• Look at why some cancers do come back
• Learn more about side effects of treatment for rectal cancer and how this affects people’s quality of life

The researchers hope that the results of the study will improve rectal cancer treatment for people in the future.