Introducing Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy for Colorectal Cancer

Establishing mismatch repair (MMR) status at the time of diagnosis is central to the potential use of neoadjuvant immunotherapy, in particular immune checkpoint inhibitors, in localized CRC. To date, efficacy is primarily seen in patients with deficient MMR status and polymerase epsilon mutations, although a small group of patients with proficient MMR does respond. In conclusion, neoadjuvant immunotherapy shows promising complete response rates, which may open a future avenue of an organ-sparing watch-and-wait approach for a group of patients.