External radiation therapy in the treatment of symptomatic relapses of rectal cancer.

To evaluate the impact of external radiation therapy in the treatment of recurrent rectal cancer previously treated by surgery alone, the 45 patients referred to the Gustave Roussy institute in France between 1982 and 1992 for this condition were studied retrospectively. All 45 patients received external radiation therapy (20 to 65 Gy, median 45 Gy). Among the 28 patients whose recurrence was revealed by symptoms (pain in 27 patients, rectal bleeding in one, and both symptoms in two), symptoms resolved by the end of the radiation therapy course in 62 % of cases.