Preoperative chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the percentage of responders and the resectability rate for patients with locally advanced carcinoma of the rectum treated by infusional 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy and pelvic radiation.


METHODS
Twenty-four patients with a diagnosis of locally advanced unresectable rectal cancer received preoperative 5-fluorouracil by intravenous infusion at the dose of 250-300mg/m2/day concurrent with pelvic radiation (median 50.4 Gy/28 fractions). Surgery was performed with a mean delay of 15 days after completion of irradiation and included 11 abdominoperineal resections and five anal sphincter-preserving procedures.


RESULTS
The median follow-up was 22 months. Complete histological response occurred in 6%, and tumor down-staging in 58% of cases. There was a significant difference in the rate of local control based on the distance of the tumor from the anal verge (>5.4cm; p=0.046). Our results have suggested the importance of the total dose on the local control (p=0.061). Higher local failure rate has been observed with prolonged treatment time (p=0.018). With metastasis-free survival as the endpoint, only stage (p=0.027) was a statistically significant prognostic factor.


CONCLUSIONS
The favorable influence of higher doses of preoperative radiotherapy on pathologic stage has been observed. Even after preoperative radiotherapy, postoperative staging remained a prognostic factor.
Department of Radiation Oncology, Uludag University Medical School, Bursa, Turkey. mkurt@uludag.edu.tr
Meral
M
Kurt
Lutfi
L
Ozkan
Ilker
I
Ercan
Sibel
S
Kahraman
Abdullah
A
Zorluoglu
Selim
S
Gurel
Faruk
F
Memik
Kayihan
K
Engin
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D005472:Fluorouracil