Figure 1.

Study flow diagram. Reasons why surgery was not performed included: *, Unresectable tumor (n = 3) and extensive surgery declined by patient (n = 1). ^**, Distant metastases (n = 8), risk/benefit ratio of an exenterative procedure felt unacceptable by patient/physician (n = 6), unresectable tumor (n = 1; tumor became unresectable due to local progression while awaiting patient decision regarding exenterative surgery), loss to follow‐up (n = 1).

Abbreviations: (C)RT, chemoradiotherapy; CT, chemotherapy; TME, beyond total mesorectal excision; w & w, watch and wait.