AB018. SOH22ABS190. A meta-analysis of rectal cancer risk following prostate radiotherapy
Colorectal Session

AB018. SOH22ABS190. A meta-analysis of rectal cancer risk following prostate radiotherapy

Tim Nugent1, Ernest Low1, Michael Kelly1, John Larkin1, Matthew Fahy1, Noel Donlon1, Paul McCormick1, Brian Mehigan1, Dara Kavanagh1, Moya Cunningham2, Charles Gillham2

1Department of Colorectal Surgery, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland; 2Department of Radiotherapy, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

Background: Radiotherapy offers an attractive treatment option for many men with prostate cancer. However it has been suggested that such ionising radiation may incur a small risk of a radiation induced secondary malignancy. This meta-analysis aims to investigate the risk of rectal cancer following radiation to the prostate.

Methods: PubMed, Web of Science and Embase databases were searched to identify articles assessing the risk of rectal cancer following prostatic radiotherapy. Articles without a valid control group of prostate cancer patients treated without radiotherapy were excluded. A meta-analysis was carried out quantifying the risk of rectal cancer following radiotherapy to the prostate.

Results: A total of 4,757 articles were screened with eight papers meeting the predetermined inclusion criteria. Our analysis of these 796,386 patients showed an increased risk of subsequent rectal cancer in men with prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy in comparison to those treated without radiotherapy (odds ratio: 1.45, 1.07–1.97, P=0.02).

Conclusions: These findings confirm an increased risk of rectal cancer associated with prior radiotherapy to the prostate. Such a risk has important implications for treatment selection, patient counselling and post-treatment surveillance. Nonetheless, it is imperative that this information is presented in a rational, balanced and comprehensible form that does not disproportionately frighten or deter men with prostate cancer from what might be their most appropriate treatment modality.

Keywords: Pelvic radiotherapy; prostate cancer; radiation induced secondary malignancy; radiotherapy; rectal cancer

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-22-ab018
Cite this abstract as: Nugent T, Low E, Kelly M, Larkin J, Fahy M, Donlon N, McCormick P, Mehigan B, Kavanagh D, Cunningham M, Gillham C. AB018. SOH22ABS190. A meta-analysis of rectal cancer risk following prostate radiotherapy. Mesentery Peritoneum 2022;6:AB018.

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