Background/aim: When possible, surgical resection is recommended for local recurrence after resection of colorectal cancer. In unresectable cases, chemotherapy is usually indicated, although the success of chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in this setting is unclear.
Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the treatment outcomes of 18 patients who received CRT for unresectable local recurrence after radical colorectal cancer surgery at our hospital between January 2000 and May 2016.
Results: Of these 18 patients, three experienced complete response and four experienced partial response, resulting in a 39% overall response. With a median follow-up time of 42 months, the 5-year progression-free survival and overall survival were 34.8% and 54.4%, respectively; associated with a median local failure-free survival time of 40.9 months. Two of the three patients that underwent CRT remained local failure free for 5 years.
Conclusion: CRT for local recurrence of rectal cancer without distant metastasis produces similar overall survival rates and local control as conventional surgical resection.
Keywords: Rectal cancer; chemoradiotherapy; local recurrence.
Copyright© 2019, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.