FRIDAY, Sept. 6, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Radiation therapy alone is adequate treatment for people with rectal cancer who don't want surgery or can't have it because they're in poor physical shape.
So says a new study that appears in the September issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics.
It included 63 people, median age 72, who were enrolled in the study between 1986 and 1998. They had to have T2-T3, N0-N1, M0 adenocarcinoma of the middle or lower rectum involving less than two-thirds of the circumference.
Their radiation therapy began with contact X-rays, followed by external beam radiation therapy with a concomitant boost. After four to six weeks, the people received an iridium implant that delivered a completion dose to the tumor. The people in the study didn't receive any chemotherapy.
After 54 months, the primary tumor control was 63 percent. The overall survival rate after 5 years was 64.4 percent. For the 42 patients younger than 80, the 5-year survival rate was 79 percent, with 10 of those people still alive after 10 years.
Surgery is the most common treatment for rectal cancer. It's sometimes combined with radiation therapy to improve the outcome. However, some people can't have surgery because they're in poor physical condition. Others won't consent to surgery and its possible side effects.
"Surgery remains, without a doubt, the main treatment of rectal adenocarcinoma. Nevertheless, in inoperable patients, combined radiation therapy should be considered," says study author Dr. Jean-Pierre Gerard, of the Centre Antoine-Lacassagne in France.
"Research aimed at improving the quality of life of patients with rectal cancer is ongoing, and this study contributes to that body of knowledge," he says.
More information
The National Cancer Institute has more on rectal cancer.
