Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
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Comparative Study
Endoscopic scoring of late rectal mucosal damage after conformal radiotherapy for prostatic carcinoma.
To describe rectal mucosal damage in an endoscopic study after conformal radiotherapy of prostate cancer and to correlate this with clinical outcome. ⋯ Rectoscopy offers the possibility of detecting signs of tissue dysfunction below the level of subjective symptoms. Systematic analytic examinations such as rectoscopy, in addition to clinical examinations, as already foreseen in the LENT-SOMA-score, will be necessary due to the fact that even telangiectatic lesions have been observed for asymptomatic patients. For the opportunity of sharing and comparing data collected from endoscopy after radiotherapy a graduation system as proposed based on a standardisation of the endoscopic terminology will be necessary.