A case of rectal cancer treated by preoperative chemoradiation

: Fifty-one-year-old male visited our hospital suffering from anal pain and subileus. Further examination revealed that advanced rectal cancer which invaded to presacral space (Ai, N 0, P 0, H 0, M(-), stage IIIa) caused such symptom. We administered neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy for fear of non curative resection of the rectum. The regimen was once weekly administration of intravenous CPT-11 40 mg, plus daily oral administration of UFT-E 600 mg/day and Uzel 75 mg/day for 4 weeks. In addition we underwent radiation 2.4 Gy/day and intravenous low-dose cisplatin (CDDP) 5 mg/day, 5 days/week for 3 weeks. Four weeks after the first administration, a partial response was confirmed on CT, and so we carried out an abdominoperineal resection. The postoperative course is almost uneventful without a little perineal infection. The specimen revealed that no malignant lesion remained, which changed to necrotic tissue. The side effects were not so severe. For example, diarrhea, nausea, and mucosal dysfunction were each less than grade 2, and there was much tolerate for renal, liver, and bone marrow function. This combination chemoradiotherapy is considered to be effective for locally advanced rectal cancer.