ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the toxicities and long-term survival of a pilot study of radical surgery followed by concurrent capecitabine and radiotherapy for stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ rectal cancer patients.Methods From March 1,2005 to December 31,2007,131 pathologically proved stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ rectal cancer patients received radical surgery followed by chemoradiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy.Capecitabine was delivered daily in twice,for 2 weeks followed by a 2nd cycle after a rest of 7 days during radiotherapy,with the dosage of 1600 mg/m2/d.Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy was encouraged to the dose of 50 Gy in 25 fractions,and Oxaliplatin/5-fluorouracil or leucovorin based adjuvant chemotherapy was recommended.Results Grade 3 +4 toxicities during concurrent chemoradiotherapy were observed in 28.2％ of patients.The follow-up rate was 93.9％.The 3-year overall survival (OS),locoregional-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival rates were 85.1％,96.7％ and 79.5％,respectively.Among the 31 patients with relapse,5 had loco-regional recurrence and 28 had distant metastasis.Univariate analysis indicated that patients with low and moderate-low differentiated adenocarcinoma,no adjuvant chemotherapy,stage ⅢC disease or positive lymph node ratio (LNR) more than 30％ had lower OS ( x2 =15.49,15.85,8.80 and 9.76,P ＝ 0.000,0.000,0.011 and 0.002 ).Patients with N2 disease had more loco-regional recurrence.Patients with stage ⅢC,without adjuvant chemotherapy,or LNR more than 30％ were at higher risk of distant metastasis ( x2 =6.51,11.57 and 9.70,P =0.034,0.001 and 0.002 ).However,patients who didn ' t receive adjuvant chemotherapy were likely to have low differentiated adenocarcinoma and T4 stage disease ( x2 =7.20,6.48,P =0.027,0.039).Conclusions After radical surgery and concurrent eapecitabine and radiotherapy for stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ rectal cancer patients,loco-regional recurrence rate is pretty low.Distant metastasis is the main treatment failure.
ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the outcome of radiotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Methods From January 2000 to December 2007,41 patients with inoperable locally advanced (stage Ⅲ) pancreatic cancer were treated with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy(3DCRT) or intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Among these patients, 30 received concurrent radio-chemo-therapy. Results The median survival time(MST) and 1-year overall survival were 9.2 months and 23%. Patients with pretreatment KPS≥80 ,no regional lymph nodes metastasis, and CR/PR after radiotherapy had better prognosis. The corresponding MSTs were 11.1 months vs 5.8 months (χ2 = 7.50, P = 0.006), 10. 8months vs 6.5 months (χ2 = 5.67, P = 0.017), and 19.5 months vs 9.1 months (χ2= 7.28, P = 0. 007), re-spectively. Concurrent radio-chemotherapy tended to improve the overall survival (χ2 = 3.25, P = 0. 072). After radiotherapy, 18 patients had clinical benefit response, mainly being abdominal pain relief. Neither grade 4 hematologic nor grade 3 non-hematologic toxicities were observed. Conclusions For patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, both 3DCRT and IMRT are effective in alleviation of disease-related symptoms. Patients with better porformance status before treatment, no regional lymph nodes metastasis, and better response to radiotherapy may have better prognosis. Concurrent radio-chemotherapy trend to improve overall survival when compared with radiotherapy alone.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the radiation-induced esophageal toxicities in Ⅲ stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated by three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) combined with concurrent chemotherapy, and to find the relevant predictive factors. Methods From September 2006 to October 2007, 37 patients with stage Ⅲ NSCLC were treated by 3 DCRT (60 Gy in 30-34 fractions) con-currently with navelbine and cisplatin (NP). Chemotherapy was given in the first and fifth week. Univariate and multivariate analyses and receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) were used to assess the associ-ation of radiation-induced esophagitis and correlated factors. Results Of all the patients, 91.89% (34/37) developed radiation-induced esophagitis, including grade 1 in 11 patients, grade 2 in 9, grade 3 in 14 and grade 4 in none. According to Spearman correlative analysis, the correlative factors included mean esophagus dose (MED), the LETT_(40)、LETT_(45)、LETT_(50)、LETT_(55)、LETT_60)of esophagus.All the 11 factors had good correlation with esophagitis in univariate analysis, while only V_55 was independ-ently associated with esophagitis in multivariate analysis. The ROC analysis indicated that the cut-off point of the curve was 30% with the area under ROC curve of 0.906, (P=0.000). Grade 2 or 3 radiation esophagi-tis occurred in all the patients with esophageal V_55 > 30%, while only in 36% ( 8/22 ) of those with V_55<30%. Conclusions 3DCRT combined with concurrent chemotherapy in patients with stage Ⅲ NSCLC could develop severe esophagitis. Dosimetric parameters (MED, LETT_(40),LETT_(45),LETT_(50),LETT_(55),LETT_(60),V_(40),V_(45),V_50,V_55,V_(60))are related with esophagitis,V_55 with V_55 > 30% being the most valuable predictor.
