Improving the morbidity of anorectal injury from pelvic radiotherapy

Objective Radiation anorectal injury due to pelvic radiotherapy for non intestinal cancer is a significant cause of morbidity which may limit the treatment dose required. Conservative treatment options are of limited value and surgery is reserved only for the most severe complications. This review addresses radioprotection of the anorectum and aims to increase awareness amongst surgeons of the strategies that have been in practice in order to minimize the side-effects of radiotherapy while preserving its therapeutic efficacy. Methods This review is based on a literature search (Medline and NLM PubMed) with manual cross-referencing of all articles related to anorectal radiation injury. Results Optimization of radiation dose, the use of radioprotective agents and improvement in radiation delivery are the main areas of development. There are few data on the potential of altered fractionation schedules in reducing anorectal injury. A few phase I and II studies suggest that the pharmacological agents amifostine and misoprostol could be beneficial in limiting radiation damage but larger phase III studies are awaited. Conclusion The introduction of 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy and intensity modulated radiation therapy has been the most significant advance in reducing radiation morbidity.