Multicentre prospective audit of surgical outcomes and acute complications following short course pre-operative radiotherapy for resectable rectal cancer

Background The addition of short course pre-operative radiotherapy to total mesorectal excision reduces local recurrence in resectable adenocarcinoma of the rectum. In a previous retrospective study potential factors associated with early complications following this combination were identified. The aim of this study was to examine these relationships in a prospective multicentre audit. Methods One hundred and seven patients who received short course pre-operative radiotherapy in four cancer centres between 1 October 2001 and 30 September 2002 were included. Data including patient age, radiotherapy field length, overall treatment time, operation type, surgical outcomes and complications occurring within 3 months of the 1st day of radiotherapy were collected, These were compared and combined with the previously studied cohort of 176 patients treated at one centre between 1st January 1998 and 31st December 1999. Results In the prospective cohort only patient age (P = 0.001) was significantly associated with acute complications. However, both the overall treatment time (median 9.0 vs 11.0 days P < 0.0001) and field length (median 16.6 vs 17.0 cm P = 0.03) were significantly shorter in this cohort when compared to the previous retrospective study. In patients from both studies (n = 283), increasing age (P = 0.002) and field length (independent of operation type) (P = 0.02) were independently associated with an increased risk of acute complications. Conclusions This study suggests that meticulous selection of patients for short course pre-operative radiotherapy and smaller planning target volumes may be associated with a lower risk of acute complications. The use of MRI scanning to stage pelvic disease may reduce the number of patients with R1 resections receiving short course pre-operative radiotherapy.