Radiation therapy of colorectal cancer

Radiation therapy has been used with increasing frequency in patients with carcinoma of the rectum and rectosigmoid. After surgical resection alone, local failure rates of 20 to 60% are noted, with the rate increasing with degree of penetration of tumor through the bowel wall and with presence of ly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cancer 1983-06, Vol.51 (S12), p.2528-2534
Main Author: Tepper, Joel E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Colonic Neoplasms - radiotherapy
Colonic Neoplasms - surgery
Follow-Up Studies
Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen
Humans
Intraoperative Period
Lymph Nodes - pathology
Medical sciences
Neoplasm Invasiveness
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - prevention & control
Neoplasm Staging
Other diseases. Semiology
Radiotherapy Dosage
Radiotherapy, High-Energy
Rectal Neoplasms - radiotherapy
Rectal Neoplasms - surgery
Sigmoid Neoplasms - radiotherapy
Sigmoid Neoplasms - surgery
Stomach. Duodenum. Small intestine. Colon. Rectum. Anus
Time Factors
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Radiation therapy has been used with increasing frequency in patients with carcinoma of the rectum and rectosigmoid. After surgical resection alone, local failure rates of 20 to 60% are noted, with the rate increasing with degree of penetration of tumor through the bowel wall and with presence of lymph node involvement. Preoperative or postoperative radiation therapy has been shown to decrease the local failure rate significantly, and may improve survival rates. In patients who present with locally unresectable disease, preoperative irradiation has been shown to convert a large percentage of these tumors to resectable lesions, with eventual cure in perhaps 30% of patients. Newer techniques such as intraoperative electron beam radiation therapy, may be effective in decreasing the high local failure rate in these patients, by allowing the radiation therapist to increase safely the dose to the tumor volume. Even without surgical resection, external radiation therapy alone can cure approximately 10% of these patients. For small, superficial, well‐differentiated tumors within 10 cm of the anal verge, endocavitary radiation therapy is an effective method of locally controlling these tumors, while avoiding general anesthesia and avoiding colostomy.
ISSN:0008-543X
1097-0142
DOI:10.1002/1097-0142(19830615)51:12+<2528::AID-CNCR2820511325>3.0.CO;2-7