Acute rectal toxicity; 3-Field versus 4-Field radiation treatment technique for prostate carcinoma.

Authors

  • Loganee Moodley

Keywords:

prostate carcinoma, radical radiotherapy, acute rectal toxicity

Abstract

Radical radiotherapy is a common treatment for prostate carcinoma. Acute toxicity to the rectum, which lies posterior to the prostate, is dependant upon the field arrangement, dose delivered and volume of rectum that lies within the target volume. Due to technical limitations of their equipment, two different oncology centers in Durban are currently using two different treatment techniques. One uses the 3-field technique which avoids direct irradiation of the rectum, and the other uses the 4-field technique which involves direct irradiation of the rectum.
A prospective, convenience-sampling study was conducted to determine the degree of acute toxicity for these two radiation treatment techniques. Sixty participants with histologically confirmed stage B or C prostate carcinoma were recruited from two private oncology centers in Durban.

Thirty participants were treated with the 3-field technique and the other 30 with the 4-field technique. All participants were treated with a daily dose of 2.00Gy up to a total dose of 60.00Gy. Weekly acute rectal toxicity was assessed using the RTOG/EORTC grading criteria. Grade 1 toxicity was the highest in week 6 (26.7%) for the 3-field technique and in week 3 (23.3%) for the 4-field technique, grade 2 in week 6 (16.7%) for the 3-filed and in week 3 (6.7%) for the 4-field, whereas grade 3 toxicity was constant in weeks 2-5 (3.35) for the 3-field technique and highest in week 4 (16.7%) for the 4-field technique. No participants experienced grade 4 acute rectal toxicity. A statistically significant difference exists between the techniques which was exhibited in week 2 (p=0.0002). Participants treated with the 3-field technique experienced less severe acute rectal toxicity than those treated with the 4-field technique.

Author Biography

Loganee Moodley

N.D. Rad. (D) (cum laude), B.Tevh. Rad (T), M. Tech. Rad. (cum laude).

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Published

2007-01-26

Issue

Vol. 42 No. 1 (2004)

Section

Original Articles

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