The principal objective of this study is to perform a molecular evaluation for the reversal of methylation in clinical material collected at two different time points. The first sample representing untreated (the biopsy sample), and later a hydralazine-treated specimen (the resection specimen). Accordingly, we are not using routine inclusion criterion for enrollment (such as histology or clinical stage), but realize that the majority of operable rectal cancers will be stages II-III, and that treatment—again not specified or restricted—will very likely follow the standard therapy for this disease (infusional 5-Fluorouracil and radiation therapy). The accrual target at the phase II segment of this trial is small and that does not allow for any traditional clinical endpoints assessment (such as response rate, time to treatment failure or survival). Accordingly, we do not plan on following these endpoint as part of this study.