Study: Treatment Planning May Cut Radiation Toxicity to Small Bowel

Toxicity to the small bowel from pelvic radiation therapy for rectal cancer may be linked to the position and volume of the small bowel during the radiation treatments, according to researchers from the Department of Radiation Oncology at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.

The rate of small bowel toxicity from pelvic radiation therapy for rectal cancer also has been reported to be lower for patients treated before surgery, possible due to a lesser volume of irradiated small bowel, according to the researchers.

Researchers developed a study of treatment planning techniques involving 30 patients with rectal cancer.

They found that the patients treated with radiation before surgery had significantly less small bowel toxicity with a better tolerance of therapy. Greater small bowel toxicity was also observed in patients who had low anterior resection surgery than those having abdominoperineal resection surgery.

"Because treatment planning CT scans can detect small bowel that does not contain contrast, they may be more accurate than the traditional small bowel series," wrote the researchers.

Other Sources: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics