TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 1997 , Vol 12 , Num 1
PALLIATIVE RADIOTHERAPY IN THE PATENTS WITH BONE METASTASES: A RANDOMIZED STUDY OF DIFFERENT SCHEDULES OF FRACTIONATION AND DOSES OF RADIOTHERAPY
ZEYNEP ÖZSARAN, MUSTAFA ESASSOLAK, AYHAN AYDIN, BAHAR BALTALARLI, DENİZ YALMAN, AYFER HAYDAROĞLU
Ege Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Radyasyon Onkolojisi, İzmir In this study the results from a prospective trial, comparing the effects of different schedules of radiotherapy to the patients with bone metastases who were given therapy between March 1994-June 1995 are presented, 109 fields of radiotherapy were used for 87 patients. 36 of the patients were randomized to receive 1 x 8 Gy, 38 of them to receive 5 x 4 Gy and 35 of them to receive 10 x 3 Gy. Patients ages were between 15 and 81 and 51.7% of them were women, 48.3% were men. The bone metastases localized in the vertebra (47.7%), in the pelvis (24.8%), femur (14.7%), humerus (9.2%), cranium(0.9%), scapula(0.9%), mandibula(0.9%) and costa(0.9%). The effect of treatment was evaluated by pain relief, radiological response and the degree of side effects. The pain reduction (palliation) rate of 50% was achieved in 74.8% of the patients. The 10 x 3 Gy RT arm was found to be more effective than the others to achieve the response rate of 80% (P=0.008). The effect of therapy by means of radiological response was "incomplete 57.5% and stabile in 37.5% of the patients. Although wide treatment fields were used , any serious side effects were found. We concluded that 10 x 3 Gy regimen is effective in the patients whose life expectancy were longer and the performance status were better. For the other immobilized patients the palliation rate of 70% achieved with the 1 x 8 Gy and 5 x 4 Gy regimes was found to be acceptable and more convenient to the patient and less cost to society. Keywords :