Objective  To explore the clinical effect of preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy with oxaliplatin and capecitabine in treatment of patients with medium to advanced rectal cancer.

  Methods  Seventy patients with medium to advanced rectal cancer were randomly divided into two groups, with 35 cases in each group. The control group was treated with preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy by capecitabine, and the observation group received oxaliplatin plus capecitabine for preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Both groups were followed up for 12 months, and the clinical effects were observed in two groups.

  Results  The total effective rate was 82.86% in the observation group, which was significantly higher than 57.14% in the control group (P < 0.05). The local recurrence rate within 1 year after operation in the observation group was 20.00%, which was significantly lower than 42.86% in the control group (P < 0.05). The survival rate was 82.86% in the observation group, which was significantly higher than 60.00% in the control group (P < 0.05). In the comparison of quality of life, the scores of the four dimensions such as physiological, psychological, social and environmental abilities in the observation group were significantly higher than the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P>0.05). The distant metastasis rate of the observation group and the control group within 1 year was 14.29% and 31.43%, respectively (P>0.05).

  Conclusion  Preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy with oxaliplatin and capecitabine is effective in the treatment of medium to advanced rectal cancer, which can significantly reduce the local recurrence rate and improve the quality of life.