THE RESULTS OF POSTOPERATIVE RADIOTHERAPY IN RECTAL CANCER

Sixty-four patients with locally advanced rectal cancer received adjuvant radiotherapy in Ondokuz Mayıs University Radiation Oncology Department between December 1992 and December 1999. We retrospectively evaluated prognostic factors and overall survival; 48 of these 64 patients were taken into evaluation. Age, gender, T stage, N stage, type of operation, distance from anal canal and administration of adjuvant chemotherapy were tested as prognostic factors. All patients received radiotherapy with Co60 and total dose was 5000 or 5040 cGy in daily fractions of 180 or 200 cGy. Overall survival rate was calculated with Kaplan-Meier method. The median follow-up was 24 months (3-74). Overall survival at 2, 3 and 5 years were 79.84%, 69% and 49% respectively. The T(p=0.0193) and N (p=0.0226) stage appeared as significant prognostic factors.

Keywords: rectal cancer, prognostic factors, radiotherapy