Effect of doses of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy for unresectable biliary cancer / 中国癌症杂志

ABSTRACT

Purpose:To determine the effect of doses of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy(3D-CRT) for unresectable biliary cancer. Methods:48 patients with localized,unresectable cholangiocarcinoma were treated with 3D-CRT.Patients were grouped according to the radiotherapy dose 12 patients received a total dose of 33-39Gy(low dose group),23 patients received 40-58Gy(medium dose group),and 13 patients received 59.4-68Gy(high dose group). The low dose group received 3Gy/fraction,medium dose group and high dose group received either 1.8 or 2Gy/fraction,5 fraction/week. Results:The median time to local progression for all patients was 10 months. The median overall survival was 12 months. 24(50%)had radiographic evidence of disease progression. 21 of those patients(87.5%) experienced local recurrence as the first radiographic sign of disease progression. The remaining 3 presented with metastatic disease as the initial sign of progression. The time of local failure(P=0.220) and the median survival(P=0.232) were not statistically different among the three groups. The rate of acute gastrointestinal side effects was not statistically different among the three groups(P= 0.485) . Conclusions:Local progresion was the predominant pattern of disease recurrence in this group of patients with unresectable biliary cancer. Because the power to detect even large difference with small numbers of patients is limited,a benefit from high dose radiotherapy cannot be excluded.