Study: Brachytherapy Best Option for Recurrent Rectal Cancer

Patients who undergo surgery for locally recurrent rectal cancer may experience more control over their disease if they receive high-dose brachytherapy afterwards, according to researchers from the University of Southern California at Los Angeles.

Researchers treated 27 patients, 9 female and 18 male, ages 32 to 79, with brachytherapy, placing small pellets of radioactive material directly into the cancerous area following aggressive removal of cancerous rectal tumors.

Of the 18 patients who had recurrences of their cancer, there was a mean relapse time of 11.3 months following the brachytherapy treatments. Recurrent rectal cancer has a short interval to recurrence and a low survival rate, according to the study presented at the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons meeting in San Diego.

After a follow up period of 50 months, researchers found 10 patients still alive, with four of them having no evidence of recurrent cancer, two having local recurrence but no metastatic disease, three having recurrence at an unknown site, and one patient's status unknown.

Of the patients who died, five died of unrelated causes and four died of metastatic cancer, with none of the patients showing signs of recurrent disease. The remaining patients died of local or local and metastatic disease or of unknown causes.

The UCLA researchers believe that brachytherapy treatment is currently the best treatment option for recurrent rectal cancer.

Other sources: UCLA, Reuters