Patient: Will my condition be delayed if I know I have a tumor but don’t have an operation right away? Doctor: After preoperative chemoradiotherapy, about 10-30% of tumors can be completely regressed, 40-50% of tumors can be significantly reduced, 15-20% of tumors remain unchanged, and <5% of tumors progress; moreover, after preoperative chemoradiotherapy, the tumors can be regressed and easier to be completely removed by surgery. Patient: Will there be any additional surgical complications when surgery is done after radiotherapy first? Doctor: After the standardized radiotherapy, there is a 6-10 weeks interval, when the acute edema period of the intestine has basically subsided, and there is no significant increase in postoperative complications compared with direct surgery. Patient:What are the benefits of radiotherapy first? Physician: (1) lower local recurrence rate compared to direct surgery; (2) increased chance of preserving the anus; (3) less toxic reaction to preoperative chemoradiotherapy; (4) in vivo lesions can be used as an evaluation of efficacy for treatment sensitivity. Patient: If the tumor is in complete remission, do I still need to have surgery? Physician: Complete tumor remission by clinical imaging is not really a complete regression of tumor. For patients with complete tumor remission on imaging, 50%-75% of patients are still found to have residual cancer cells after surgery confirmation. In other words, if surgery is not performed after chemoradiotherapy, there is a risk of delaying the disease.