Tolerability of oxaliplatin-based neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in elderly locally advanced rectal cancer patients: a case-control study of a real-life experience

Background/Aim: The aim of this study was to delineate clinical criteria to safely select elderly patients who can benefit from adding oxaliplatin to 5-fluoruracil-based neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) management. Patients and Methods: This is a single-institutional case-control study on LARC patients who received intensified neo-adjuvant CRT, between January 2007 and December 2014. Data concerning patient characteristics, treatment details and adverse events were reviewed and analyzed in two settings: young patients (<65 years) and elderly (≥65 years). A binary logistic model was applied to analyze the potential interaction between clinical variables and severe toxicity risk. Results: In total, 100 consecutive LARC patients were included. Mean age was 63.6 years and 55% (n=55) of the patients had adult comorbidity evaluation-27 (ACE-27) score ≥1. Most cancers (81%) were lymph node positive at diagnosis. Overall, ≥5 cycles of oxaliplatin were administered to 92 patients (92%). Only 17 patients (17%) reported grade ≥3 toxicity. The elderly group did not experience significantly higher severe toxicity than the young group. ACE-27 score ≥1 was the only variable independently associated with a higher severe toxicity. The 5-year overal survival (OS) rates were 64.1% and 89.2% in the elderly and young cohort, respectively. Conclusion: Elderly LARC patients can be safely treated with intensified neo-adjuvant CRT.