[A Case of Repeated Heavy Particle Beam Irradiation for Recurrent Rectal Cancer]

A woman with rectal cancer underwent a laparoscopic low-anterior resection in 2015. However, in 2017, she was diagnosed with pelvic lymph node recurrence, following which a lateral lymph node dissection was performed. Another bout of pelvic lymph node recurrence was confirmed in 2018, whereupon the lesions were irradiated using radiographs. In 2021, pelvic lymph node swelling was detected, and chemotherapy was initiated. Prior to irradiation, a spacer was installed between the tumor and the gastrointestinal tract, and a heavy particle beam was directed at the lymph nodes in 2022. An increase in the size of the lymph nodes in the right external iliac artery and obturator lymph node regions was confirmed, followed by another dose of heavy particle therapy. Interestingly, no recurrence has been observed till date.