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Proton Therapy Delivery and Its Clinical Application in Select Solid Tumor Malignancies

Proton Therapy Delivery and Its Clinical Application in Select Solid Tumor Malignancies

Published on: February 6, 2019

External beam radiation treatment for rectal cancer is associated with a decrease in subsequent prostate cancer

Karen E Hoffman¹, Theodore S Hong, Anthony L Zietman

¹Harvard Radiation Oncology Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. khoffman1@partners.org

|December 22, 2007

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for rectal cancer significantly reduced subsequent prostate cancer diagnoses. This study found a 72% decrease in prostate cancer incidence among rectal cancer patients treated with EBRT.

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Area of Science:

Oncology
Radiation Oncology
Epidemiology

Background:

External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for rectal cancer can lead to incidental radiation exposure of the prostate gland.
The long-term impact of this incidental exposure on subsequent prostate cancer risk is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the association between EBRT for rectal cancer and the risk of developing prostate cancer later in life.
To quantify the effect of incidental prostate radiation from rectal cancer treatment on subsequent prostate cancer diagnosis.

Main Methods:

Utilized the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry to identify men diagnosed with localized or regional rectal cancer between 1988-1997 treated with EBRT and sphincter-sparing surgery (SSS).
Compared prostate cancer incidence in this cohort to control groups: rectal cancer patients treated with SSS but without EBRT, and colon cancer patients without EBRT.
Calculated standardized incidence ratios (O/E) of observed to expected prostate cancer cases using SEER*Stat.

Main Results:

A cohort of 1574 men with rectal cancer treated with EBRT and SSS was identified.
Twenty men (O/E ratio of 0.28) were subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer, a statistically significant decrease compared to the expected rate.
Control groups (rectal cancer without EBRT, colon cancer without EBRT) showed prostate cancer incidence rates similar to the general population (O/E ratios of 0.94 and 1.09, respectively).

Conclusions:

EBRT for localized or regional rectal cancer is associated with a substantial reduction (72%) in the frequency of subsequent prostate cancer diagnosis.
The findings suggest a potential protective or suppressive effect of radiation on prostate cancer development or detection.
Further research into the underlying biological mechanisms is warranted to explain this observed association.