Clinical Outcomes of Palliative Radiation Therapy for Gastric Cancer Bleeding

Only a few studies have been conducted regarding the palliative radiation therapy(RT)for gastric cancer(GC)bleeding. Data of 9 patients with gastric cancer requiring blood transfusions due to gastric bleeding who were treated with RT were reviewed. All patients were men with a median age of 83(range, 70-91)years. The clinical stage was B in 2 patients, in 1, A in 1, and B in 5. Performing gastrectomy was difficult in 4 patients with distant metastasis or tumor invasion to adjacent organ, 3 with poor performance status, and 2 with advanced age. The median hemoglobin levels before RT was 6.0 (range, 3.3-7.7)g/dL, and all patients received blood transfusions before RT. Seven patients received 30 Gy RT and 2 patients received 50 Gy. Two patients received concurrent chemotherapy. A total of 2 hematological and 4 non-hematological treatment-related adverse events occurred. All patients improved conservatively. Hemorrhage occurred in 8 patients, except for 1. Of the 8 patients who responded to RT, 1 had rebleeding on day 81. The median rebleeding-free survival time from the beginning of RT was 125(range, 21-421)days. Palliative radiation therapy was useful for bleeding control in nonresectable gastric cancer.