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Updated: Mar 6, 2026
Intestinal Epithelial Regeneration in Response to Ionizing Irradiation
Published on: July 27, 2022
Inflammatory bowel diseases activity in patients undergoing pelvic radiation therapy
Pierre Annede1, Thomas Seisen1, Caroline Klotz2
1Brachytherapy Unit, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France;; Department of Radiotherapy Department, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France.
Background:
Few studies with contradictory results have been published on the safety of pelvic radiation therapy (RT) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Methods:
From 1989 to 2015, a single center retrospective analysis was performed including all IBD patients who received pelvic external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) or brachytherapy (BT) for a pelvic malignancy. Treatment characteristics, IBD activity and gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity were examined.
Results:
Overall, 28 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) (n=13) or ulcerative colitis (n=15) were included in the present study. Median follow-up time after irradiation was 5.9 years. Regarding IBD activity, only one and two patients experienced a severe episode within and after 6 months of follow-up, respectively. Grade 3/4 acute GI toxicity occurred in 3 (11%) patients, whereas one (3.6%) patient experienced late grade 3/4 GI toxicity. Only patients with rectal IBD location (P=0.016) or low body mass index (BMI) (P=0.012) experienced more severe IBD activity within or after 6 months following RT, respectively.
Conclusions:
We report an acceptable tolerance of RT in IBD patients with pelvic malignancies. Specifically, a low risk of uncontrolled flare-up was observed.
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