High-Grade Acute Organ Toxicity During Preoperative Radiochemotherapy as Positive Predictor for Complete Histopathologic Tumor Regression in Multimodal Treatment of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

• Published in: Strahlentherapie und Onkologie 2010, Vol.186 (1), p.30-35
• Main Authors: Wolff, Hendrik Andreas, Gaedcke, Jochen, Jung, Klaus, Hermann, Robert Michael, Rothe, Hilka, Schirmer, Markus, Liersch, Torsten, Herrmann, Markus Karl Alfred, Hennies, Steffen, Rave-Fränk, Margret, Hess, Clemens Friedrich, Christiansen, Hans
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic - administration & dosage; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Combined Modality Therapy; Cystitis - etiology; Disease Progression; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Administration Schedule; Enteritis - etiology; Female; Fluorouracil - administration & dosage; Fluorouracil - adverse effects; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Neoadjuvant Therapy; Neoplasm Staging; Oncology; Organoplatinum Compounds - administration & dosage; Organoplatinum Compounds - adverse effects; Original Article; Proctitis - etiology; Prognosis; Radiation Injuries - etiology; Radiotherapy; Radiotherapy Dosage; Rectal Neoplasms - drug therapy; Rectal Neoplasms - pathology; Rectal Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Rectal Neoplasms - surgery; Statistics as Topic
• ISSN: 0179-7158; 1439-099X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00066-009-2037-1

Purpose: To test for a possible correlation between high-grade acute organ toxicity during preoperative radiochemotherapy and complete tumor regression after total mesorectal excision in multimodal treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer. Patients and Methods: From 2001 to 2008, 120 patients were treated. Preoperative treatment consisted of normofractionated radiotherapy at a total dose of 50.4 Gy, and either two cycles of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or two cycles of 5-FU and oxaliplatin. Toxicity during treatment was monitored weekly, and any toxicity CTC (Common Toxicity Criteria) ≥ grade 2 of enteritis, proctitis or cystitis was assessed as high-grade organ toxicity for later analysis. Complete histopathologic tumor regression (TRG4) was defined as the absence of any viable tumor cells. Results: A significant coherency between high-grade acute organ toxicity and complete histopathologic tumor regression was found, which was independent of other factors like the preoperative chemotherapy schedule. The probability of patients with acute organ toxicity ≥ grade 2 to achieve TRG4 after neoadjuvant treatment was more than three times higher than for patients without toxicity (odds ratio: 3.29, 95% confidence interval: [1.01, 10.96]). Conclusion: Acute organ toxicity during preoperative radiochemotherapy in rectal cancer could be an early predictor of treatment response in terms of complete tumor regression. Its possible impact on local control and survival is under further prospective evaluation by the authors’ working group.