Efficacy of three-dimensional conformal therapy combined with s-1 or capecitabine for recurrent rectal carcinoma in elderly patients

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of threedimensional conformal therapy combined with S-1 or capecitabine for elderly patients with recurrent rectal carcinoma. METHODS: Fifty-eight elderly patients with recurrent rectal cancer were randomly divided into two groups: a trial group (n = 30) and a control group (n = 28). The treatment group received three-dimensional conformal radiation (a total of 54-66 Gy, 1.8-2.0 Gy/d, 5 d/wk) and S-1, while the control group were treated with the same radiation regimen and capecitabine. Each cycle lasted three weeks. The efficacy and toxicity were evaluated after two cycles of treatment. RESULTS: The efficacy and toxicity could be evaluated in 58 cases. There were no significant differences in overall response rate (73.3% vs 71.4%, P > 0.05), median TTP (9.2 mo vs 8.2 mo, P > 0.05) or OS (16.9 mo vs 17.2 mo, P > 0.05) between the two groups. The most common toxicities were hematological, digestive toxic reactions, erythra and radiation enteritis, and all of them were tolerable and comparable between the two groups. However, the incidence of handfoot syndrome in the control group was higher than that in the treatment group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The efficacy was comparable between the two groups, but the incidence of handfoot syndrome was lower in the S-1-based group. ? 2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.