Follow-up protocol for non-operative management
| Time from final response assessment | Tumour marker* | DRE | MRI† | CT‡ | Endoscopy | Adverse events | PROM§ |
| 3 months¶ | x | x | x | Rectum | x | ||
| 6 months | x | x | x | x | Rectum | x | x |
| 9 months | x | x | x | Rectum | x | ||
| 1 year | x | x | x | x | Total | x | x |
| 1 year 3 months | x | x | x | Rectum | x | ||
| 1 year 6 months | x | x | x | x | Rectum | x | |
| 1 year 9 months | x | x | x | Rectum | x | ||
| 2 years | x | x | x | x | Rectum | x | x |
| 2 years 6 months | x | x | x | x | Rectum | x | |
| 3 years | x | x | x | x | Total | x | x |
| 3 years 6 months | x | x | x | x | Rectum | x | |
| 4 years | x | x | x | x | Rectum | x | |
| 4 years 6 months | x | x | x | x | Rectum | x | |
| 5 years | x | x | x | x | Total | x |
*Tumour marker includes serum carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate 19–9.
†MRI includes pelvic MRI.
‡CT includes chest/abdomen/pelvis CT.
§PROM includes EORTC QLQ—C30 and CR29, Wexner score and LARS-scale.
¶Near cCR patients will be followed every 6–8 weeks for the first 6 months.
cCR, clinical complete response; DRE, digital rectal examination; EORTC QLQ, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire; LARS, Low Anterior Resection Syndrome; PROM, patient-reported outcome measure.