Neoadjuvant Radiochemotherapy Combined with Locoregional Hyperthermia in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer: Feasibility and Tolerance of Short-Course Versus Long-Course Radiotherapy Schedules

This first Spanish experience shows that deep radiative HT can be seamlessly integrated into both SCRT and LCRT neoadjuvant protocols for rectal cancer. High adherence, favorable tolerance, and reliable thermal control support clinical implementation. Any between-schedule observations are descriptive only; no formal comparative testing was performed. The study was not designed or powered to establish comparative effectiveness between SCRT and LCRT, and the sample size was insufficient to detect rare HT-specific adverse events.