Evaluating the risk of developing secondary rectal cancer after radiotherapy in patients with prostate cancer.

This study evaluated the risk of developing secondary rectal cancer after radiotherapy (RT) in patients with prostate cancer. The data showed that RT significantly increased the risk of developing secondary rectal cancer in these patients.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common form of cancer found in men. PCa can be treated by surgery, radiation, or hormone therapy. Radiotherapy (RT) can be given as first-line therapy or after surgery to make sure all cancer cells are killed. 

Ionizing radiation like X-rays kills cancer cells by damaging their DNA. However, it also causes genetic changes to nearby cells, which increases the risk of developing secondary cancers later in life. These are known as radiation-induced secondary cancers. It is important to evaluate the risk of developing secondary rectal cancer after RT in patients with PCa.

This study analyzed 8 studies and involved a total of 796,386 patients with PCa. 260,473 patients underwent RT and 535,913 patients underwent non-RT treatment.

A total of 3829 (0.48%) patients developed secondary rectal cancer. 1506 (0.58%) patients in the RT group and 2323 (0.43%) patients in the non-RT group developed secondary rectal cancer.

Patients treated with RT were 1.45 times more likely to develop secondary rectal cancer compared to those patients who were treated with non-RT methods.

This study concluded that RT significantly increased the risk of developing secondary rectal cancer in patients with PCa.

This study looked back in time at medical records. The studies analyzed had different follow-up periods. The control group included patients who were treated with surgery, active monitoring, hormonal therapy, or a combination of these methods.