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Controlled Clinical Trial
. 2008 Jul 15;71(4):1175-80.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2007.11.018. Epub 2008 Jan 22.

Patterns of locoregional recurrence after surgery and radiotherapy or chemoradiation for rectal cancer

Tse-Kuan Yu  1 , Priya R Bhosale, Christopher H Crane, Revathy B Iyer, John M Skibber, Miguel A Rodriguez-Bigas, Barry W Feig, George J Chang, Cathy Eng, Robert A Wolff, Nora A Janjan, Marc E Delclos, Sunil Krishnan, Prajnan Das
Affiliations
Controlled Clinical Trial

Patterns of locoregional recurrence after surgery and radiotherapy or chemoradiation for rectal cancer

Tse-Kuan Yu et al. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. .

Abstract

Purpose: To identify patterns of locoregional recurrence in patients treated with surgery and preoperative or postoperative radiotherapy or chemoradiation for rectal cancer.

Methods and materials: Between November 1989 and October 2001, 554 patients with rectal cancer were treated with surgery and preoperative (85%) or postoperative (15%) radiotherapy, with 95% receiving concurrent chemotherapy. Among these patients, 46 had locoregional recurrence as the first site of failure. Computed tomography images showing the site of recurrence and radiotherapy simulation films were available for 36 of the 46 patients. Computed tomography images were used to identify the sites of recurrence and correlate the sites to radiotherapy fields in these 36 patients.

Results: The estimated 5-year locoregional control rate was 91%. The 36 patients in the study had locoregional recurrences at 43 sites. There were 28 (65%) in-field, 7 (16%) marginal, and 8 (19%) out-of-field recurrences. Among the in-field recurrences, 15 (56%) occurred in the low pelvis, 6 (22%) in the presacral region, 4 (15%) in the mid-pelvis, and 2 (7%) in the high pelvis. Clinical T stage, pathologic T stage, and pathologic N stage were significantly associated with the risk of in-field locoregional recurrence. The median survival after locoregional recurrence was 24.6 months.

Conclusions: Patients treated with surgery and radiotherapy or chemoradiation for rectal cancer had a low risk of locoregional recurrence, with the majority of recurrences occurring within the radiation field. Because 78% of in-field recurrences occur in the low pelvic and presacral regions, consideration should be given to including the low pelvic and presacral regions in the radiotherapy boost field, especially in patients at high risk of recurrence.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST NOTIFICATION:

Actual and potential conflicts of interest do not exist.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Distribution of In-Field Recurrences. The numbers denote the percentage of in-field recurrences at each region.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Location of Marginal Recurrences. The numbers denote the number of marginal recurrences at each site.
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival after locoregional recurrence.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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