Survival Rates In Advanced Rectal Cancer Patients May Be Improved By Preoperative Radiation

Dec. 1, 2008, WILKES-BARRE, PA. – Patients treated with radiation prior to surgery for advanced rectal cancer have fewer instances of cancer recurrence and better overall survival rates, according to a recent Geisinger report.

The report examined a treatment called neoadjuvant therapy, which can reduce cancerous tumor size or limit the spread of cancer, before surgery to remove the tumor. Neoadjuvant therapy may include chemotherapy and/or radiation.

Neoadjuvant therapy should not be considered a “one size fits all” approach for rectal cancer patients, said the report’s primary author, Mohammed Mohiuddin, MD, FRCR, FACR. Dr Mohiuddin is director of The Henry Cancer Center and co-director of Geisinger Health System’s Cancer Institute.

“Physicians need to consider a variety of factors such as tumor size, cancer stage and patient preference before deciding on the course of preoperative treatment,” said Dr. Mohiuddin, who has published extensively on the topic of radiation oncology.

source: Geisinger