Bowel harm from prostate radiation may be lasting

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adverse effects on the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract after radiation therapy for prostate cancer may be more common than previously reported, according to Texas-based researchers -- and the harm may be prolonged.

"Among men treated with radiation for prostate cancer," Dr. Sharon H. Giordano told Reuters Health, "we found higher than expected rates of late GI toxicity which persisted out for at least five years."

As survival rates for prostate cancer increase, side effects of therapies have become more important, Giordano of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and colleagues point out in the medical journal Cancer.

The researchers studied data for 57,955 men 65 years of age or older who were treated for prostate cancer. Of these, 24,130 underwent external beam radiation therapy.

After five years, GI diagnoses were present in 51 percent of men who had radiation, compared with 32 percent of men who did not undergo surgery or radiation and 29 percent of those treated with surgery alone. The researchers note that these rates are higher than those reported in previous studies.

In addition to radiation therapy, increasing age, diabetes and hormonal therapy were among factors associated with apparent GI toxicity.

The team concludes that bowel problems, "while rarely serious enough to result in hospitalization, could negatively impact quality of life in prostate cancer survivors."

SOURCE: Cancer, July 15, 2006.