capecitabine + radiation therapy (Tata Memorial Hospital)

This treatment regimen refers to a neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiation protocol developed and studied by Tata Memorial Hospital for patients with locally advanced unresectable rectal cancer. The regimen combines the oral chemotherapy agent capecitabine, a fluoropyrimidine carbamate, with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). In the associated Phase II clinical trial (NCT00807911), patients received 45 Gy of radiation to the pelvis alongside capecitabine administered at 2000 mg/m² daily in two divided doses. The primary goal of this combination therapy is to achieve tumor downstaging, thereby converting technically unresectable tumors into candidates for potentially curative surgical resection. The study compared this chemoradiation approach against a radiotherapy-only arm that included a localized boost to the primary tumor site to assess resectability rates and toxicity profiles.

Other names

chemoradiationconcurrent chemoradiotherapyneoadjuvant chemoradiationchemoradiation-Tata Memorial Hospital-rectal cancer