People who undergo radiotherapy for their bowel cancer can live better without the therapy and rely on surgery and chemotherapy to treat their disease, a new study revealed on Sunday. .
Radiotherapy has many side effects, such as infertility, the need for a temporary colostomy, diarrhoea, pain and bladder problems as it is used to treat it.
The research was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago and the results were also published. New England Journal of Medicine And Journal of Clinical Oncology.
ASCO announced in a briefing paper that “skipping radiation therapy can reduce short- and long-term side effects that affect quality of life while providing similar outcomes in disease-free survival and overall survival.” do.”
The study was conducted on 1,194 patients with rectal cancer in New York.
“They were randomly divided into two groups; one received treatment with radiation followed by surgery, and then, at the discretion of their doctor, chemotherapy; the other received experimental treatment, in which participants were given chemotherapy first. , followed by surgery. At discretion, another round of chemotherapy may be given.”
The results showed that radiotherapy did not improve the outcome and after 18 months no difference was observed in the quality of life between the two groups. Moreover, there was similar survival between them.
Toxic treatment
Dr. Pamela Kunz, an ASCO expert who was not involved in the research, said: “We’ve reached a tipping point. As we develop new treatments, we’re also finding that our patients Where can we end toxic treatments for the good of?
“The results of this study allow us to do just that, showing that we can skip radiation therapy for some patients, improving quality of life without compromising efficacy.”
For eight years, the trials will monitor participants to collect additional data on survival, recurrence and other endpoints.
“It really is a case of less is more. Studies show that we can spare selected patients from receiving radiation. This improves quality of life and reduces side effects, including things like early menopause and infertility.” Kunz noted.
Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, said doctors around the world were trying to find ways to reduce patients’ exposure to drugs or radiation to limit long-term side effects.
“Pelvic radiotherapy is associated with long-term side effects. I think avoiding radiation is an important step,” he said, adding that the research was “very solid.”
“Based on that, I think you can say you can safely avoid radiotherapy for many patients with this disease. I think it’s definitely a precursor.”