Patients will be assigned to an experimental arm in which preoperative short course 5 x 5 Gy radiation therapy is followed by six cycles of combination chemotherapy (capecitabine and oxaliplatin) and surgery within 4-6 weeks
The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) using short course radiation therapy (SCRT) followed by full course of chemotherapy then surgery in locally advanced rectal cancer. The main questions it aims to answer are:~Is total neoadjuvant treatment in this design safe & tolerable?~Impact of this design on treatment related outcomes in terms of pathological and clinical responses.