Development of Second Malignancies Following Chemotherapy with or without Radiation Therapy for the Treatment of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

Abstract

Purpose: We sought to identify factors associated with second pelvic malignancies (SPM), as well as second non-pelvic malignancies (SNPM), after chemotherapy with or without RT for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC).

Methods: Patients diagnosed with stage II-III LARC. Cumulative incidence (CI) of second malignancies was analyzed using a 2-year landmark analysis with death as a competing risk.

Results: Among 2,624 patients with LARC, 460 received chemotherapy and 2,164 received RT with concurrent chemotherapy (CXRT). With a median follow-up of 6 years in both cohorts, 7 SPMs were diagnosed in the chemotherapy cohort and 68 SPMs were diagnosed in the CXRT cohort. The 5- and 10- year CI of SPM in the chemotherapy cohort were 2.3% and 4.2% respectively, compared to 2.1% and 5.8% in the CXRT cohort (P=0.3). Older age (>50) was significantly associated with development of SPM on multivariable analysis (hazard ratio [HR] 3.03, p=0.005). Intensity modulated RT was associated with reduced risk of SPM compared to conventional RT (p=0.014). Of the total 75 SPMs, 72 were genitourinary cancers and only 3 were sarcomas. For SNPM, the 10-year CI was significantly higher in the CXRT group vs chemotherapy (11.0% vs 4.4%). Older age (>50) was associated with increased risk of SNPM (HR 2.48, p<0.001). Diabetes was associated with more SNPM (HR 1.51, p=0.028) while abstaining from tobacco was associated with decreased risk of SNPM (HR 0.63, p=0.013).

Conclusion: The CI of SPM was not significantly higher in patients who received CXRT compared to chemotherapy alone for LARC. SNPM CI was increased in the CXRT vs chemotherapy alone cohort, and higher in smokers, diabetics, and patients >50 years.