• Mi Joo Chung, Dong Wook Kim, Weon Kuu Chung, Suk Hwan Lee, Seung-Kyu Jeong, Jae Kwan Hwang, and Choon Sik Jeong.
• Department of Radiation oncology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
• Oncotarget. 2017 Sep 1; 8 (36): 60479-60486.

PurposeTo compare the clinical outcomes between short-course chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and long-course CRT with delayed surgery in locally advanced rectal cancer patients.ResultsFrom 2010 to 2015, 19 patients were treated with short-course CRT and 53 patients were treated with LCRT. The sphincter-saving rate (89.5% vs. 94.3%, short-course CRT vs. long-course CRT), pathologic complete remission (21.1% vs. 13.2%), downstaging (47.4% vs. 26.4%), and treatment complications including anastomotic site leakage, bowel adhesion, and hematologic toxicity associated with short-course CRT were not significantly different from those associated with long-course CRT. 2-year overall survival was 90.0% and 91.2% (p = 0.448), respectively.Methods And Materials72 patients with stage cT3-4N0-2M0 rectal cancer participated in a multicenter study. Short-course CRT treatment was as follows: a total of 25 Gy of radiotherapy was delivered in 5 equal doses with intensity modulated radiation therapy. Chemotherapy was consisted of Leucovorin 400 mg/m2 administered by bolus injection on day 1 and 5-Fluouracil 1200 mg/m2 given by continuous infusion on days 1 and 2. An additional three cycles of chemotherapy were administered before the surgery. Long-course CRT treatment was as follows: a total of 50.4 Gy of radiotherapy was delivered in 28 equal doses. Chemotherapy consisted of a bolus injection of 5-Fluouracil + Leucovorin during the first and last week of radiotherapy. Surgery was performed 6-8 weeks after completion of radiotherapy in both groups.ConclusionsPreoperative short-course CRT is an effective and safe modality. It is clinically comparable to long-course CRT in locally advanced rectal cancer.

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