Possible Risk Factors Associated with Radiation Proctitis or Radiation Cystitis in Patients with Cervical Carcinoma after Radiotherapy

Radiation proctitis and radiation cystitis are major complications for patients with cervical carcinomafollowing radiotherapy. In the present study, we aimed to determine the potential risk factors for the developmentof radiation proctitis and radiation cystitis after irradiation. A total of 1,518 patients with cervical carcinomareceived external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) followed by high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy (HDRICB)in our hospital. The incidences of radiation proctitis and radiation cystitis were recorded and associations withdifferent factors (age, time period, tumor stage) were analyzed with c2 (chi-squared) and Fisher exact tests. Wefound that 161 and 94 patients with cervical carcinoma were diagnosed with radiation proctitis and radiationcystitis, respectively, following radiotherapy. The prevalence of Grade I-II radiation proctitis or radiation cystitiswas significantly lower than that of Grade III (radiation proctitis: 3.82% vs. 6.76%, P < 0.05; radiation cystitis:2.31% vs. 3.87%, P < 0.05) and was significantly enhanced in patients with late stage (IIIb) tumor progressioncompared to those in early stage (Ib, IIa) (P < 0.05). Moreover, the incidence of radiation proctitis and cystitiswas not correlated with age or, time period following radiation, for each patient (P > 0.05). These observationsindicate that a late stage of tumor progression is a potential risk factor for the incidence of radiation proctitisand cystitis in cervical carcinoma patients receiving radiotherapy.