A multidisciplinary clinical treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer complicated with rectovesical fistula: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Rectal cancer with rectovesical fistula is a rare and difficult to treat entity. Here, we describe a case of rectal cancer with rectovesical fistula successfully managed by multimodality treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such case report in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: A 51-year-old Chinese man was diagnosed as having rectal cancer accompanied by rectovesical fistula. He underwent treatment with neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy combined with total pelvic excision and adjuvant chemotherapy, as recommended by a multimodality treatment team. Post-operative pathology confirmed the achievement of pathological complete response. CONCLUSIONS: This case suggests that a proactive multidisciplinary treatment is needed to achieve complete cure of locally advanced rectal cancer even in the presence of rectovesical fistula.