Published online Dec 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i48.18480
Revised: June 16, 2014
Accepted: July 15, 2014
Published online: December 28, 2014
Processing time: 236 Days and 18.4 Hours
A clinical trial of radiotherapy with modified simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) technique against huge tumors was conducted. A 58-year-old male patient who had a huge pelvic tumor diagnosed as a rectal adenocarcinoma due to familial adenomatous polyposis was enrolled in this trial. The total dose of 77 Gy (equivalent dose in 2 Gy/fraction) and 64.5 Gy was delivered to the center of the tumor and the surrounding area respectively, and approximately 20% dose escalation was achieved with the modified SIB technique. The tumor with an initial maximum size of 15 cm disappeared 120 d after the start of the radiotherapy. Performance status of the patient improved from 4 to 0. Radiotherapy with modified SIB may be effective for patients with a huge tumor in terms of tumor shrinkage/disappearance, improvement of QOL, and prolongation of survival.
Core tip: This paper introduces a new technique of radiation therapy for huge tumors. In the past, patients with radioresistant huge adenocarcinoma could undergo only palliative treatment because huge tumors could not be controlled with a dose less than tolerant dose of healthy tissue. However, this technique enabled to deliver higher-dose to the center of huge tumor without exceeding tolerant dose to the healthy tissue. Of course it is difficult to cure these patients, this technique showed a possibility to control huge tumors. From the patients enrolled in this clinical trial, we introduce a patient with tumor arising from digestive system.