Study: High Dose Reirradiation for Recurrent Rectal Cancer

Patients with recurrent rectal cancer can receive high doses of reirradiation without long-term side effects, according to a study published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics.

Researchers from the University of Kentucky, Lexington and Lankenau Hospital in Philadelphia studied 103 patients with recurrent adenocarcinoma of the rectum.

Patients had received initial radiation and chemotherapy with 5-FU. The average time from their initial treatment to cancer recurrence was 19 months.

All patients in the study received reirradiation and 34 patients also had various surgical procedures to remove residual cancer. Researchers followed the patients for 2 to 68 months with an average follow up of 2 years.

The average survival for the group was 26 months. The average survival of patients who had surgery following reirradiation was 44 months, compared with 14 months for patients treated only with reirradiation.

The five-year survival for the irradiation/surgery group was 22 percent compared with 5 percent for the reirradiation only group. Investigators report that the treatment was generally well tolerated. There was no difference in the number of acute or long-term complications by the total radiation dose given.

Other Sources: International Journal of Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics