Kj. Stelzer et al., CAFFEINE CONSUMPTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED SEVERE LATE TOXICITY AFTER RADIATION TO THE PELVIS, International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics, 30(2), 1994, pp. 411-417
Citations number
27
Categorie Soggetti
Oncology,"Radiology,Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Purpose: Recent studies have suggested that pentoxifylline, a methylxa
nthine, can prevent or ameliorate late radiation injury in animals and
humans. Caffeine is a commonly consumed methylxanthine that provides
a model for evaluating the impact of this category of drugs on radiati
on injury. A retrospective study was undertaken to determine if there
is an association between caffeine consumption and a lower incidence o
f late radiation toxicity. Methods and Materials: From 1984 through 19
90, 82 patients with cervical cancer and 53 patients with endometrial
cancer were treated with primary or adjuvant radiation therapy at the
University of Washington. Patients were interviewed regarding ingestio
n of caffeine-containing beverages, and average daily caffeine consump
tion during the time of radiotherapy was estimated. The evaluable pati
ents (42 cervical, 31 endometrial) were stratified by quantity of caff
eine consumption for correlation with the incidence of radiation toxic
ity. Results: Acute radiation toxicity was not associated with caffein
e consumption for cervical or endometrial cancer, There was a nonstati
stically significant trend toward a decrease in overall late radiation
toxicity with increased caffeine intake for cervical cancer patients.
Subgroup analysis revealed this trend to be attributable to a decreas
ed incidence of severe late radiation injury in cervical cancer patien
ts who consumed higher levels of caffeine at the time of their radioth
erapy (p = 0.02). This relationship was not observable for late toxici
ty in the endometrial cancer patients due to the low incidence of seve
re late injury following radiation for that disease. Conclusions: This
investigation is supportive of previous studies showing a radioprotec
tive effect for pentoxifylline, and suggests that the mechanisms of ra
dioprotection may be common to methylxanthines as a drug class.