Fc. Chen et al., EARLY EXPERIENCE WITH POSTOPERATIVE ADJUVANT CHEMORADIATION FOR RECTAL-CARCINOMA - FOCUS ON MORBIDITY, Australian and New Zealand journal of surgery, 65(10), 1995, pp. 732-736
The morbidity of postoperative adjuvant chemoradiation for primary ext
raperitoneal rectal carcinoma is documented in this ongoing study. Pat
ients who presented electively for resection with ACPS Dukes' B and C
extraperitoneal rectal carcinoma during the period January 1990 to Jun
e 1993 were studied. Twenty patients received postoperative adjuvant c
hemoradiation. At a mean follow up of 32.6 months (s.d. 7.1), three of
the 20 patients who received combined adjuvant chemoradiation reporte
d no side effects. In 10 patients (50%) complications were classified
as minor. In the remaining seven patients (35%) major complications of
therapy occurred. There were no deaths. These early results highlight
the morbidity of postoperative adjuvant chemoradiation that has been
presumed but not documented.