Intermediate dose pre-operative irradiation for carcinoma of the rectum.
BACKGROUND
To assess the locoregional control, survival and toxicities of combined intermediate-dose pre-operative irradiation and surgery for rectal cancer patients.


METHODS
Forty-two patients with adenocarcinoma of the rectum underwent intermediate-dose pre-operative radiotherapy. The median age was 58 years. the prescribed dose was 30.6 Gy to the whole pelvis, while a boost of 4 x 3 Gy to the primary tumor was added. The calculated linear-quadratic dose was 52 Gy.


RESULTS
Failure as a first site was pelvic in 2 and distant in 11. The crude pelvic failure rate was 9.5%. The 3- and 5-year overall survival was 75% and 63%, respectively. Pre-operative radiotherapy was well-tolerated by all. No anastomotic breakdown was seen. Nor was any death attributable to any adverse effects of the treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
The present results suggested that pre-operative intermediate-dose radiotherapy is effective in preventing pelvic recurrence in rectal cancer patients with acceptable toxicities.
Uno
Takashi
T
Department of Radiation Oncology, Chiba University, Graduate School of Medicine, Inohana 1-8-1, Chuou-ku, Chiba City, Chiba 260-8670, Japan. unotakas@ho.chiba-u.ac.jp
Yasuda
Shigeo
S
Aruga
Takashi
T
Isobe
Koichi
K
Machida
Namio
N
Kawakami
Hiroyuki
H
Kawata
Tetsuya
T
Miyazaki
Masaru
M
Ito
Hisao
H
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D019583:Dose Fractionation, Radiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D015996:Survival Rate; D017211:Treatment Failure