{"entity":{"id":"angelita-habr-gama","kind":"person","name":"Angelita Habr-Gama","aka":[],"tldr":"Brazilian surgeon who first showed that rectal cancers that vanish after chemoradiation can be watched rather than removed.","summary":"Angelita Habr-Gama (University of São Paulo) published the 2004 series demonstrating that patients with a clinical complete response to chemoradiation for distal rectal cancer could safely avoid surgery, founding the watch-and-wait approach now tested in OPRA and adopted worldwide. She has led the International Watch & Wait Database and continues to refine response assessment and salvage strategies.","asOf":"2026-09-10","links":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Habr-Gama%20A%5BAuthor%5D%20rectal%20watch%20and%20wait"}],"tags":["colorectal","surgery","organ-preservation","latin-america"],"related":[],"cancers":["colorectal"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["organ-preservation","chemoradiation","complete-response"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Professor of Surgery, University of São Paulo; Angelita & Joaquim Gama Institute","specialisms":["Rectal cancer","Watch-and-wait","Colorectal surgery"],"profiles":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Habr-Gama%20A%5BAuthor%5D%20rectal%20watch%20and%20wait"}],"papers":[{"title":"Operative versus nonoperative treatment for stage 0 distal rectal cancer following chemoradiation therapy: long-term results","journal":"Annals of Surgery","year":2004,"doi":"10.1097/01.sla.0000141194.27992.32"},{"title":"Long-term outcomes of clinical complete responders after neoadjuvant treatment for rectal cancer in the International Watch & Wait Database (IWWD)","journal":"Lancet","year":2018,"doi":"10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31078-X"}]},"route":"/people/angelita-habr-gama/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"colorectal","kind":"cancer","name":"Colorectal cancer","route":"/cancers/colorectal/"},{"id":"rectal-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Rectal cancer","route":"/cancers/rectal-cancer/"}],"term":[{"id":"chemoradiation","kind":"term","name":"Chemoradiation (chemoradiotherapy, CRT)","route":"/terms/chemoradiation/"},{"id":"complete-response","kind":"term","name":"Complete response","route":"/terms/complete-response/"},{"id":"organ-preservation","kind":"term","name":"Organ preservation (watch-and-wait, bladder-sparing, larynx preservation)","route":"/terms/organ-preservation/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-habr-gama-nonoperative-stage-0-rectal-ann-surg-2004","kind":"paper","name":"Operative versus nonoperative treatment for stage 0 distal rectal cancer following chemoradiation therapy: long-term results","route":"/key-papers/paper-habr-gama-nonoperative-stage-0-rectal-ann-surg-2004/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-crc-organ-preservation-randomised-in-pmmr-rectal","kind":"idea","name":"Randomise organ preservation against surgery in mismatch repair-proficient rectal cancer, with bowel function as a co-primary endpoint","route":"/ideas/idea-crc-organ-preservation-randomised-in-pmmr-rectal/"}]}}