Zeng Z, et al. - The pathological results of transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) were compared with those of laparoscopic total mesorectal excision (laTME), based on the data from a randomized control trial. In this study, researchers included all rectal cancer patients who underwent taTME or laTME in the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China) between April 2016 and November 2018, and were enrolled in the RCT. In total, the taTME group comprised 128 patients and the laTME group comprised 133 patients. Findings revealed that transanal and laparoscopic total mesorectal excision resulted in similar pathological outcomes. No significant decrease in the rate of positive resection margin was visible despite the evidence of a decreasing trend.