• Main Authors: Vassilis Kouloulias, Maria Tolia, Nikolaos Kolliarakis, Argyris Siatelis, Nikolaos Kelekis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Urologia 2013-01-01
• Series: International Brazilian Journal of Urology
• Subjects: Urinary Bladder Neoplasms; Frail Elderly; Patients; Radiotherapy; Toxicity Tests, Acute; Palliative Care
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1677-55382013000100077
• ISSN: 1677-5538; 1677-6119

AimTo evaluate acute toxicity and symptoms palliation of a weekly hypofractionated 3DCRT schedule as radical treatment in elderly patients with organ confined bladder cancer cT1-2N0.Materials and MethodsBetween February 2005 and June 2011, 58 prospectively selected patients diagnosed with organ confined bladder cancer were treated with external 3DCRT (4-field arrangement). All candidates were medically inoperable, with poor performance status, and with age ranged from 75 to 88 years (median 78). A dose of 36 Gy in 6 weekly fractions was prescribed. The primary study endpoints were the evaluation of haematuria, dysuria, frequency and pain palliation as well as the acute toxicity according to the RTOG/EORTC scale: an assessment was performed at baseline, during and 3 months after radiotherapy, while the maximum reported score was taken into account.ResultsThe gastrointestinal acute toxicities were 13/58 (22.4%) and 5/58 (5.6%), for grade I and II respectively. The genitourinary acute toxicities were 19/58 (32.7%) and 10/58 (17.2%), for grade I and II respectively. In terms of clinical outcome, 55/58 patients (94.8%) reported palliation of haematuria, while 19 out of 58 reported no change in frequency and dysuria. All patients reported significant improvement (P < 0.01) for pain, concerning the visual analogue score before and after radiotherapy. The median progression free survival was 14 months.CONCLUSIONSThe incidence of patient-reported acute toxicity following weekly hypofractionated external 3DCRT is low while the symptom palliation compares very favorably with other reported outcomes.