Weissenberger C, Geissler M, Otto F, Barke A, Henne K, Plehn GV, Rein A, Müller C, Bartelt S, Henke M. Anemia and long-term outcome in adjuvant and neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy of stage II and III rectal adenocarcinoma: The Freiburg experience (1989-2002). World J Gastroenterol 2006; 12(12): 1849-1858 [PMID: 16609990 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i12.1849]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Dr. Christian Weissenberger, Department of Radiotherapy, University Hospital of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany. weissenb@mst1.ukl.uni-freiburg.de
Article-Type of This Article
Colorectal Cancer
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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World J Gastroenterol. Mar 28, 2006; 12(12): 1849-1858 Published online Mar 28, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i12.1849
Table 1 Patient characteristics
Adjuvant radiochemotherapy n (%)
Neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy n (%)
All n (%)
Gender
Female
148 (63.5)
38 (71.7)
186 (65.0)
Male
85 (36.5)
15 (28.3)
100 (35.0)
Age
≤Median age of 62 yr
134 (57.5)
32 (60.4)
166 (58.0)
> Median age of 62 yr
99 (42.5)
21 (39.6)
120 (42.0)
Tumor location
Upper third
35 (15.1)
0 (0.0)
35 (12.2)
Middle third
100 (42.9)
23 (43.4)
123 (43.0)
Lower third
87 (37.3)
25 (47.2)
112 (39.2)
Not known
11 (4.7)
5 (9.4)
16 (5.6)
Surgical Resection
Anterior (LAR)
133 (56.8)
13 (24.6)
146 (51.0)
Abdominoperineal (APR)
100 (43.2)
40 (75.4)
140 (49.0)
R status
R0
197 (84.5)
37 (69.8)
234 (81.8)
R1
17 (7.3)
5 (9.4)
22 (7.7)
R2
4 (1.8)
2 (3.8)
6 (2.1)
not known
15 (6.4)
9 (17.0)
24 (8.4)
Stage
II
75 (32.2)
17 (32.1)
92 (32.2)
III
158 (67.8)
36 (67.9)
194 (67.8)
N stage
N0
74 (31.8)
17 (32.1)
91 (31.8)
N1
81 (34.8)
27 (50.9)
108 (37.8)
N2
78 (33.4)
9 (17.0)
87 (30.4)
Grading
G I
11 (4.7)
9 (17.0)
20 (7.0)
G II
161 (69.1)
29 (54.7)
190 (66.5)
G III
44 (18.9)
9 (17.0)
53 (18.5)
Not known
17 (7.3)
6 (11.3)
23 (8.0)
CEA
< 3 ng/mL
102 (43.8)
16 (30.2)
118 (41.3)
≥ 3 ng/mL
102 (43.8)
16 (30.2)
118 (41.3)
Not known
29 (12.4)
21 (39.6)
50 (17.4)
RTOG
RTOG 0
96 (41.2)
30 (56.6)
126 (44.1)
RTOG I
75 (32.2)
14 (26.4)
89 (31.1)
RTOG II
46 (19.7)
9 (17.0)
55 (19.2)
RTOG III
13 (5.6)
0 (0.0)
13 (4.6)
RTOG IV
3 (1.3)
0 (0.0)
3 (1.0)
RTOG V
0 (0.0)
0 (0.0)
0 (0.0)
Table 3 Survival rates and results of uni- and multivariate analysis (patient-related variables)
OAS (%)
CSS (%)
DFS(%)
LRS (%)
DRS (%)
All stages II & III
5 yr / 10 yr:
47.0 / 36.0
60.0 / 52.0
41.4 /34.9
67.2 / 65.7
84.3 / 84.3
at risk (5 yr / 10 yr):
78 / 34
81 / 36
69 / 34
72 / 46
74 / 34
median survival:
1602
996
Gender
Male
5 yr / 10 yr:
49.2 / 36.3
64.9 / 56.8
24.7 / 12.9
73.1 / 73.1
85.1 / 85.1
Female
5 yr / 10 yr:
43.2 / 37.0
51.7 / 44.3
21.0 / 8.0
56.8 / 53.0
83.2 / 83.2
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.93 / NS
0.16 / NS
0.17 / NS
0.01 / 0.018
0.66 / NS
multivariate risk ratio:
male: 0.75
(CI 0.59 – 0.95)
Age
< 62 yr
5 yr / 10 yr:
52.2 / 42.0
62.0 / 55.8
31.1 / 16.0
65.3 / 63.4
85.9 / 85.9
> 62 yr
5 yr / 10 yr:
41.0 / 27.0
57.1 / 42.6
13.6 / 5.1
70.4 / 70.4
80.2 / 80.2
*Median age
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.02 / NS
0.22 / 0.005
< 0.01 / NS
0.47 / NS
0.59 / NS
multivariate risk ratio:
< 61 yr: 0.48
(CI 0.28 – 0.80)
Staging
II
5 yr / 10 yr:
57.0 / 49.9
65.8 / 62.5
53.3 / 45.5
75.1 / 75.1
85.5 / 85.5
III
5 yr / 10 yr:
42.6 / 30.2
57.2 / 47.4
36.3 / 28.7
63.3 / 61.0
83.8 / 83.8
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.02 / NS
0.09 / 0.009
0.02 / NS
0.06 / (0.07)
0.7 / NS
multivariate risk ratio:
stage II: 0.45
stage II: 0.79
(CI 0.21 – 0.84)
(CI 0.59 – 1.03)
Grading
II
5 yr / 10 yr:
50.6 / 39.7
62.0 / 55.1
49.3 / 41.7
73.3 / 70.7
86.8 / 86.8
III
5 yr / 10 yr:
40.7 / 36.6
55.3 / 49.8
23.3 / 23.3
58.8 / 58.8
64.4 / 64.4
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.023 / (0.06)
0.07 / NS
< 0.01 / NS
0.04 / NS
< 0.01 / 0.04
multivariate risk ratio:
G III: 1.68
G III: 2.87
(CI 0.97 – 2.78)
(CI 1.08 – 7.01)
Table 2 Anemia and hemoglobin values during radiotherapy (subgroup analysis of 192 patients)
Adjuvant radiochemotherapy n (%)
Neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy n (%)
All n (%)
Anemia before RT
No
78 (47.6)
14 (50.0)
92 (47.9)
Yes
86 (52.4)
14(50.0)
100 (52.1)
Anemia after RT
No
102 (62.2)
8 (28.6)
110 (57.3)
Yes
62 (37.8)
20 (71.4)
82 (42.7)
Hemoglobin during RT
Hb increase
106 (64.6)
10 (35.7)
116 (60.4)
Hb decrease
58 (35.4)
18 (64.3)
76 (39.6)
Table 6 Anemia and hemoglobin increase versus decrease during radiotherapy (subgroup analysis of 199 patients with documented hemoglobin values before and after radiotherapy)
Table 5 Results of uni- and multivariate analysis (other variables)
OAS
CSS
DFS
LRS
DRS
N stage
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.009 / NS
0.05 / NS
0.06 / NS
0.09 / NS
0.15 / NS
CEA
uni- / multivariate: P =
< 0.001 / 0.007
< 0.001 / NS
< 0.001 / 0.001
< 0.001 / NS
0.55 / 0.055
multivariate risk ratio:
CEA increase: 1.37
CEA increase: 3.21
CEA decrease: 0.91
(CI 1.09 – 1.73)
(CI 1.61 – 6.82)
(CI 0.76 – 1.00)
CA 19-9
uni- / multivariate: P =
< 0.001 / NS
0.033 / NS
0.22 / NS
0.79 / NS
0.62 / NS
Tumor location
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.34 / NS
0.43 / NS
0.4 / NS
0.83 / NS
0.37 / NS
Adherence to adjacent structures
uni- / multivariate: P =
< 0.001 / NS
0.004 / NS
< 0.001 / NS
0.13 / NS
0.019 / NS
BMI before RT
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.47 / NS
0.55 / NS
0.83 / NS
0.83 / NS
0.15 / NS
Smoking
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.79 / NS
0.49 / NS
0.71 / NS
0.22 / NS
0.31 / NS
Hkt before vs after RT
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.047 / NS
0.35 / NS
0.31 / NS
0.87 / NS
0.99 / NS
LDH before vs after RT
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.32 / NS
0.69 / NS
0.77 / NS
0.37 / NS
0.21 / NS
Table 4 Survival rates and results of uni- and multivariate analysis (treatment-related variables)
OAS (%)
CSS (%)
DFS(%)
LRS (%)
DRS (%)
Adjuvant therapy
Postop RCT
5 yr / 10 yr:
47.6 / 35.6
59.0 / 48.4
40.2 / 34.0%
66.1 / 64.1
82.2 / 82.2
Preop RCT
5 yr / 10 yr:
43.9 / 38.0
62.6 / 62.6
45.4 / 39.3
69.8 / 69.8
92.8 / 92.8
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.82 / NS
0.56 / NS
0.61 / NS
0.96 / NS
0.12 / NS
Protocol
NIH
5 yr / 10 yr:
60.7 / 45.2
72.5 / 59.4
49.8 / 44.2
84.1 / 84.1
73.2 / 73.2
ARO
5 yr / 10 yr:
26.9 / 21.5
45.6 / 36.5
24.5 / 16.3
67.6 / 67.6
64.0 / 64.0
uni- / multivariate: P =
< 0.001 / NS
0.003 / 0.004
0.002 / NS
0.024 / NS
0.57 / NS
multivariate risk ratio:
ARO: 2.66
(CI 1.37 – 5.21)
Surgery
risk ratio:
LAR
5 yr / 10 yr:
36.4 / 25.9
49.5 / 41.1
27.8 / 22.7
64.7 / 64.7
81.3 / 81.3
APR
5 yr / 10 yr:
35.2 / 26.0
46.7 / 39.9
27.6 / 22.9
52.4 / 51.1
86.4 / 86.4
uni- / multivariate: P =
0.4 / NS
0.51 / NS
0.27 / NS
0.015 / 0.039
0.6 / NS
multivariate risk ratio:
LAR: 1.3
(CI 1.01 – 1.60)
R status
R0
5 yr / 10 yr:
53.2 / 40.3
64.2 / 55.1
45.6 / 39.5
66.2 / 64.5
91.2 / 91.2
R1 or R2
5 yr / 10 yr:
14.2 / 14.2
20.7 / 20.7
17.3 / 17.3
62.9 / 62.9
51.2 / 51.2 5
uni- / multivariate: P =
< 0.001 / NS
0.011 / (0.09)
< 0.001 / 0.026
0.95 / NS
< 0.001 / NS
multivariate risk ratio:
R1/R2: 1.65
R1/R2: 3.45
(CI 0.91 – 3.10)
(1.56 – 7.96)
Citation: Weissenberger C, Geissler M, Otto F, Barke A, Henne K, Plehn GV, Rein A, Müller C, Bartelt S, Henke M. Anemia and long-term outcome in adjuvant and neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy of stage II and III rectal adenocarcinoma: The Freiburg experience (1989-2002). World J Gastroenterol 2006; 12(12): 1849-1858