Whole-abdomen radiotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma using twice-daily fractionation.
OBJECTIVE
To report the tolerability and efficacy of twice-daily whole-abdomen irradiation (WAI) for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).


METHODS
Of 123 patients treated for NHL with WAI, 37% received previous chemotherapy, 28% received WAI as part of comprehensive lymphatic irradiation (CLI), and 32% received WAI for palliation. The median dose to the whole abdomen was 25.0 Gy, followed by a median tumor boost of 9.8 Gy in 58 patients. Fractionation was 1.0 Gy once daily (54%) or 0.8 Gy twice daily (46%). Blood counts were measured weekly.


RESULTS
At a median follow-up of 4.3 years, local control was 72% and overall survival was 55% at 5 years. Median time of WAI was 42 days for once-daily treatment and 32 days for twice-daily treatment. Patients receiving twice-daily WAI did not have a significantly higher rate of acute side effects (e.g., nausea, diarrhea, platelet or red blood cell toxicity). Overall, acute thrombocytopenia was the most frequent side effect of treatment; 24 of 96 patients (25%) with available hematologic data had Grade 3+ toxicity. There was no acute Grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity and no late small bowel obstruction. Multiple regression indicated that patients with four or less involved sites and disease size < or =6 cm had improved local control and overall survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Twice-daily WAI using 0.8 Gy/fraction does not appear to have any greater toxicity compared with once-daily treatment using 1 Gy/fraction. Small doses per fraction (0.8-1 Gy/fx) are effective, tolerated well in the acute setting, and associated with a low rate of late toxicity.
Liauw
Stanley L
SL
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL 32610-0385, USA.
Yeh
Alexander M
AM
Morris
Christopher G
CG
Olivier
Kenneth R
KR
Mendenhall
Nancy Price
NP
D000005:Abdomen; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis