Introduction to the special section on rectal cancer

Excerpt

Members of the Society of Abdominal Radiology (SAR), Rectal and Anal Disease Focused Panel (DFP), are honored to be presented with the opportunity to contribute articles to this Special Issue. Our members, all academic radiologists from leading medical centers in North America and Europe, enthusiastically support the incremental value of this type of specialty Panel within the Society, not only for the purpose of expanding research and education, but also to address the growing need for knowledge dissemination regarding rectal cancer, its rising incidence in the younger population and the growing use of imaging for staging and treatment planning. Our Panel’s expansion to cover anal cancer parallels the expanding scope of that disease as well with increased rates of HPV infection. Several of our members are involved on a national and international level with research, education, and medical practice policy which positioned us well to author the articles in this issue. We would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief Dr. Johnson and the publisher Springer for this extraordinary opportunity. …