Treatment interruption and discontinuation in radiotherapy for rectal cancer

Radiotherapy with chemotherapy for rectal cancer reduces local recurrence risk. Of 113 patients (59 male, 54 female) undergoing treatment at New York Presbyterian Hospital, 1998-2007, 6 discontinued radiotherapy; all were female. Females were also more likely to have a treatment interruption (35% vs 12%, p = .004). Other factors associated with treatment interruption included adjuvant versus neoadjuvant therapy (OR 14.08, 95%CI 1.55-127.87), use of capecitabine versus 5-fluorouracil (OR 75.90, 95%CI 3.33->999), and development of any adverse event (OR 20.66, 95%CI 1.76-242.12). While radiotherapy discontinuation was uncommon in our cohort, for unknown reasons, females were more likely to discontinue or interrupt treatment.