Hölscher T, Bentzen SM, Baumann M, et al.
Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncol.... Date of publication 2006 Feb 1;volume 78(2):123-30.
1. Radiother Oncol. 2006 Feb;78(2):123-30. Epub 2006 Jan 30.
Influence of connective tissue diseases on the expression of radiation side
effects: a systematic review.
Hölscher T(1), Bentzen SM, Baumann M.
Author information:
(1)Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav
Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patient related co-factors may increase the risk of
radiation morbidity. Connective tissue diseases (CTD) are among the
co-morbidities that are relatively well studied and have been shown to be of
potential clinical relevance for radiotherapy. The aim of this systematic review
is to quantify the contribution of CTD to the risk of radiation related side
effects.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Relevant publications reporting the outcome of radiotherapy
in patients with CTD were retrieved according to a standardized query and
evaluated for their methodology and quality of reporting, using defined quality
criteria. A quantitative estimate of the relative risk of developing side effects
in patients with CTD was derived from the observed proportions of responders in
patients with or without CTD. Risk estimates were synthesized across studies.
RESULTS: Eight studies which include data of 9-209 patients who had CTD and were
treated with radiotherapy were identified and reviewed. Three of these studies
included data suited for further quantitative analysis. The test of the
uni-directional hypothesis that patients with CTD had an increased risk of late
effects after radiotherapy reached statistical significance, the one-tailed
P-value being 0.03. The pooled relative risk was 2.0 with 95% confidence interval
(0.99, 4.1).
CONCLUSIONS: CTD is associated with an increased risk of late radiation induced
normal tissue reaction. The literature published to date provides some support
for this assertion although most of the reports are plagued by methodological
weaknesses, thus calling for a large coordinated study.
DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2005.12.013
PMID: 16445999 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
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