Thousands of bowel cancer patients could be spared gruelling radiotherapy with no impact on their survival, research shows.
Most people with advanced bowel cancer undergo radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy and surgery. But a trial found more than nine in ten patients who skipped radiotherapy were just as likely to be alive five years later as those who had it.
Experts said avoiding radiotherapy would be a ‘major step forward’ for patients, who would be spared debilitating side-effects. Presenting their findings at the world’s largest cancer conference in Chicago, they called for clinical practice to change.
Thousands of bowel cancer patients could be spared gruelling radiotherapy with no impact on their survival, research shows (File image)
A trial found more than nine in ten patients who skipped radiotherapy were just as likely to be alive five years later as those who had it (File image)
Dr Deb Schrag, of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York, said: ‘Most intermediate risk rectal cancer patients can be cured without pelvic radiation. It’s a big deal because we have been radiating pelvises to treat this type of rectal cancer for 30 years.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
