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Pelvic Reirradiation for the Treatment of Locally Recurrent Rectal Cancer

  • Radiation Therapy and Radiation Therapy Innovations in Colorectal Cancer (JY Wo, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Colorectal Cancer Reports

Abstract

Purpose of review

This study aims to summarize the literature on pelvic reirradiation for the treatment of locally recurrent rectal cancer. Symptom palliation, rates of local progression after reirradiation with or without surgery, overall survival, and toxicity outcomes are discussed.

Recent findings

The majority of patients received total doses of 30–40 Gy given in 1.2 or 1.5 Gy twice-daily fractions. Treatment evolved over time to include more conformal fields. The overall rates of local control generally range from 25 to 70% and surgical salvage after reirradiation was performed in 20–79% of patients. Some studies suggest that patients treated with reirradiation may have a higher rate of a complete R0 resection, which is an important predictor of overall survival. Survival outcomes have improved over time along with increased use of reirradiation.

Summary

Pelvic reirradiation can offer effective symptom palliation and be part of a curative salvage treatment strategy for locally recurrent rectal cancer.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, 1950 Circle of Hope, Room 1570, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Randa Tao, Shane Lloyd & Lindsay Burt

  2. Deparment Medical Oncology, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Jonathan Whisenant & Ignacio Garrido-Laguna

  3. Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Prajnan Das

Authors
  1. Randa Tao
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  2. Shane Lloyd
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  5. Ignacio Garrido-Laguna
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Randa Tao.

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Conflict of Interest

Randa Tao declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Shane Lloyd has received compensation from Sirtex for service on a marketing panel.

Lindsay Burt declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Jonathan Whisenant declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ignacio Garrido-Laguna declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Prajnan Das declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Radiation Therapy and Radiation Therapy Innovations in Colorectal Cancer

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Tao, R., Lloyd, S., Burt, L. et al. Pelvic Reirradiation for the Treatment of Locally Recurrent Rectal Cancer. Curr Colorectal Cancer Rep 13, 175–182 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11888-017-0360-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11888-017-0360-y

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