Results of Tri-Modality Therapy for Rectal Cancer in Elderly Patients

Elderly cancer patients are more prevalent and require special attention. This study focused on the outcome of elderly (≥65 years) rectal cancer patients treated with tri-modality therapy.

A total of 105 patients receiving neoadjuvant radio-chemotherapy and resection for locally advanced rectal cancers were retrospectively evaluated. Nine characteristics were analyzed for loco-regional control (LRC), metastases-free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS) including tumor location, gender, age, performance status, radiotherapy technique, primary tumor/lymph node categories, downstaging and histological grading.

The 5-year rates of LRC, MFS and OS were 91%, 78% and 87%, respectively. Radio-chemotherapy was not completed in 12 patients (11%) due to toxicity; 18 patients (17%) experienced grade 3 toxicities. A total of 29 patients (28%) had surgical complications. On multivariate analyses, MFS was significantly associated with downstaging (p=0.003) and OS with lower histological grade (p=0.013).

Tri-modality therapy resulted in promising outcomes and was tolerated reasonably well by elderly patients. Prognostic factors were identified that may help personalize future treatment.