Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy of a combined preoperative regimen consisting of volumetric modulated arc therapy-simultaneous integrated boost and capecitabine chemotherapy for distal rectal cancer. A total of 26 patients with locally advanced distal rectal cancer were enrolled from March 2015 to May 2016. The radiation dose fractionation was 58.75 Gy/25 fractions (2.35 Gy/fraction) for rectal tumor and pelvic lymph node metastasis and 50 Gy/25 fractions for pelvic lymph node stations, accompanied with simultaneous capecitabine chemotherapy. Completion of the simultaneous chemotherapy was ensued by 1 week of rest and then another cycle of induction chemotherapy with capecitabine. A radical rectal cancer surgery was performed 6 to 8 weeks after the simultaneous chemoradiotherapy. The primary end points were the complete pathological response rate and the postoperative sphincter preservation rate. All 26 patients completed the neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, among which 25 received surgical treatment. The postoperative complete pathological response rate was as high as 32% (8/25), while the sphincter preservation rate was 60% (15/25), the overall tumor/node (T/N) downstaging rate was 92% (23/25), and the R0 resection rate was 100%. During the chemoradiation, the most common adverse events were grade 1 and 2; grade 3 radiodermatitis occurred in 2 cases but no occurrence of acute adverse events occurred that were grade 4 and above. After the surgery, there was one case of ureteral injury and one case of intestinal obstruction, but no perioperative deaths occurred. In conclusion, the chemoradiation regimen of preoperative volumetric modulated arc therapy-simultaneous integrated boost (VMAT-SIB(58.75Gy)) and a single cycle of induction chemotherapy with capecitabine for patients with distal rectal cancer is safe and feasible with a satisfactory complete pathological response rate, sphincter preservation rate, and R0 resection rate.