2025 ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting Conference Recap

Published: May 14, 2025

The American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons is wrapping up its 2025 annual conference. Held in San Diego, California, the ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting was a four-day event that gathered some of the country’s leading colon and rectal surgeons together for a weekend of education, innovative discussion, and research revelations.

With so much information distributed at the 2025 ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting, we have a brief rundown of some of the research topics discussed at the event for your convenience. The research titles also include the session tag, since direct links to individual posters are unavailable.

Differences in Conversions Between Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery for pT4b Colon Adenocarcinoma: A National Cancer Database Analysis (EP128, Sat315)

Description: The objective is to evaluate the perioperative outcomes of patients converting from robotic or laparoscopic surgery to open surgery for pT4b colon adenocarcinoma, focusing on conversion rates and clinical outcomes.
Result: The robotic approach yielded a lower conversion rate, both laparoscopic-to-open and robotic-to-open groups showed comparable perioperative outcomes. No notable differences were noted in overall survival, positive margin rates, mortality, readmission, or hospital stay.

Accuracy and Quality of Popular Colon Cancer Screening Content on YouTube (EP117, Sat315)

Description: The study was designed to determine how accurate popular YouTube videos are that discuss colon cancer screening guidelines. The study observed unbiased, English-speaking search results for the top 50 most viewed, under 12-minute videos, using the search query “colon cancer screening.”
Result: The research found that the top-performing content is accurate overall, with diverse and approachable content. More discussion on high-risk racial and ethnic groups may be beneficial.

Diverting Loop Ileostomy Omission in Robotic TME After Neoadjuvant Radiation Therapy — Is It Safe? (EP164, Sat315)

Description: The goal of the research was to determine the true need for a diverting loop ileostomy in robotic total mesorectal excision.
Result: The omission of diverting loop ileostomy in robotic mesorectal excision of low or mid rectal cancers after neoadjuvant therapy was not associated with an increased incidence of unplanned reoperation, postoperative morbidity, anastomotic leak, or postoperative ileus.

Short Course Radiotherapy With and Without Delay; Effects on Pathologic Downstaging (EP170, Sat315)

Description: This study sought to determine if delayed surgical intervention after neoadjuvant short-course radiotherapy may impact the downgrading of clinical T stage to pathological T stage in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.
Result: A delay of two weeks from the last day of radiation to surgery was found to have no impact on T stage downgrading when compared with immediate surgery.

Early Discharge and Readmission for Robotic Left Sided Colectomies (EP620, Mon8)

Description: The study compared 30-day postoperative complications of patients who had robotic left-sided colon resections, who were discharged in a day or less compared with patients who were discharged in the standard two or more days.
Result: Standard discharge patients were likelier to develop postoperative pulmonary embolism compared to early discharge. Beyond that, no notable difference between the groups was observed.

Immunotherapy Treatment Patterns and Survival Outcomes Among MSI-H Colon Cancer Patients (EP778, Mon115)

Description: The study focused on access to immunotherapy and survival outcomes for 3,104 patients with stage IV high microsatellite instability tumors, with a focus on racial disparities and socioeconomic factors.
Result: No significant disparities were noted. The benefit of having access to treatment at academic centers underscores the need for better healthcare access to patients.

For a complete schedule of the research presented, along with access to on-demand content and more, visit the official website for the 2025 ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting.