Jiaolin Zhou

Abstract Background: Postoperative recurrence remains a major cause of treatment failure and death in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), despite advances in neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) and radical surgery. This study evaluated the prognostic value of initial recurrence patterns on post-recurrence survival (PRS) and examined clinicopathological factors associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS).

Keywords Circulating tumour DNA Next-generation sequencing Locally advanced rectal cancer Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy Prognostic factor Evidence before this study ctDNA serves as a dynamic biomarker for real-time tumour burden and is widely applied in postoperative monitoring of solid tumours. The DYNAMIC study highlights its utility in risk stratification for stage II colorectal cancer, enabling personalized guidance for adjuvant chemotherapy.