FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 346:137-138 January 10, 2002 Number 2 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text Purchase this article Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

To the Editor: Kapiteijn et al. (Aug. 30 issue)¹ reported that short-term preoperative radiotherapy reduces the risk of local recurrence in patients with rectal cancer who undergo standardized total mesorectal excision. There was no survival advantage. Similarly, a study that compared postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy with chemotherapy alone found a decreased risk of local recurrence and no survival advantage.²

If radiotherapy results in minimal or no survival advantage, then the real question is whether it improves the quality of life. Kapiteijn et al. mention the long-term effects of preoperative radiotherapy on bowel function only briefly, by referring to one study . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

HOME  |  SUBSCRIBE  |  SEARCH  |  CURRENT ISSUE  |  PAST ISSUES  |  COLLECTIONS  |  PRIVACY  |  HELP  |  beta.nejm.org Comments and questions? Please contact us. The New England Journal of Medicine is owned, published, and copyrighted © 2008 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.