Colorectal cancer is a major health problem worldwide, with more than 1 million patients being diagnosed on an annual basis. It is the 3rd most common cancer type, and about half a million people die of the disease each year. In recent years significant knowledge has been acquired and applied in everyday clinical practice as far as rectal cancer is concerned. The treatment of rectal cancer has been investigated thoroughly over the last two decades. Significant changes have been made, as far as surgical techniques, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy are concerned. Effective surgery and modern radiotherapy combined with cytotoxic chemotherapy have improved survival rates.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles focusing on the management and treatment of rectal cancer from various aspects of the clinical practice, such as surgery, oncology, radiotherapy, and histopathology. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Pathogenesis and genetics of rectal cancer
• Anatomic and pathophysiologic considerations on carcinogenesis in the rectum
• Diagnosis
• Staging—surgical approach to rectal cancer
• Neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment options and modern protocols
• Surgical approach to rectal cancer and various surgical techniques
• Laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery
• Tips and tricks on rectal cancer surgery
• Molecular therapies
• Recurrent rectal cancer

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijso/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: