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Long-Term Survival After High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Locally Advanced or Recurrent Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

  • Colorectal Cancer
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

We evaluated outcomes of intraoperative radiotherapy delivered with focal high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy [intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT)] in the management of locally recurrent (LR) and locally advanced (LA) primary T4 colorectal carcinoma (CRC). LR CRC or LA primary disease is a clinical challenge due to the difficulty in obtaining negative margins after radical surgery and the high risk of subsequent recurrence. Few data exist on long-term outcomes of patients treated with surgery and HDR-IORT for LR or LA primary CRC.

Methods

Three hundred CRC patients underwent HDR-IORT to the pelvis with gross surgical resection during November 1992–December 2007. Median follow-up for surviving patients was 53 (range 5–216) months. Eighty-eight patients (29 %) were treated for LA primary and 212 (71 %) LR disease. HDR-IORT was delivered using an iridium-192 remote afterloader and a Harrison–Anderson–Mick applicator. Median IORT dose was 1,500 (range 1,000–2,000) cGy.

Results

Five-year overall survival probability was 49 %. Positive margin status was associated with inferior overall survival and disease-free survival. Competing-risks analysis for time to local failure and distant metastases identified a 5-year cumulative incidence of local failure and distant metastases of 33 and 47 %, respectively. Five-year cumulative incidence of local failure was 22 % for the LA group and 38 % in the LR group. Five-year probability of disease-free survival was 48 and 31 % for LA and LR patients, respectively, and 5-year probability of overall survival was 56 and 45 % for LA and LR patients, respectively.

Conclusions

HDR-IORT combined with resection results in encouraging local control rates with acceptable toxicity for patients with locally aggressive CRC.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Correspondence to Karyn A. Goodman MD.

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Terezakis, S., Morikawa, L., Wu, A. et al. Long-Term Survival After High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Locally Advanced or Recurrent Colorectal Adenocarcinoma. Ann Surg Oncol 22, 2168–2178 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-014-4271-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-014-4271-8

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