Does local irradiation affect gastric emptying in humans?

The authors measured gastric emptying in 13 patients undergoing radiation t herapy to the chest, abdomen, or pelvis for nongastrointestinal cancer to i nvestigate whether gastric emptying (GE) was altered by this therapy. Sympt oms and weight were monitored at regular intervals. Patients served as thei r own controls and were compared to a group of healthy subjects, When studi ed prior to radiation therapy (baseline), cancer patients had a gastric emp tying rate that was similar to a healthy control group (t1/2 mean +/- SEM 9 2.6 +/- 15.3 vs. 80.4 +/- 8.2 min). Irradiation did not change the emptying rate, either after the first dose (early) of 180 cGy (t1/2 99.5 +/- 17.9) or after 2 weeks of therapy (late) with 3000 cGy (t1/2 75,5 +/- 7.3). There was no correlation of radiation field or tumor type with gastric emptying rate. Two of the 13 patients experienced nausea and vomiting during their c ourse of radiation, but their gastric emptying was unchanged from baseline.