Pathological complete response is when at the time of operation no cancerous tissue is found in the operative specimen. Pathological complete response is indicative of both the sensitivity of the tumor and the effectiveness of the preoperative chemotherapeutic regimen. Pathological complete response is associated with an excellent prognosis in terms of local recurrence, distal recurrence and overall survival. Standard preoperative chemoradiation is associated with a pathological complete response of 15-20%. For patients with locally advanced disease receiving standard chemoradiation, the 5 year local recurrence rate is expected to be 6% and 5 year survival 68%.