Purpose: Based on reports of greater toxicity from radiation therapy, collagen vascular diseases (CVDs) have been considered a contraindication to irradiation. We assessed the complications of radiation therapy in patients with CVD.
Patients and methods: A total of 209 patients with documented CVD were irradiated between 1960 and 1995. One hundred thirty-one had rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 25 had systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); 17 had polymyositis or dermatomyositis; 16 had scleroderma; eight had ankylosing spondylitis; five had juvenile RA; three had discoid lupus erythematosus; and four had 4 mixed connective tissue disorders (MCTD). The mean follow-up duration of curative cases was more than 6 years. Doses ranged from 10 to 87.6 Gy, with a median of 45 Gy.
Results: Overall, 263 sites were assessable in 209 patients. Significant (> or = grade 3) acute toxicity was seen in 10% of irradiated sites. Severe late effects were associated with significant acute reactions and with non-RA CVDs (6% v 21% at 5 years). No difference was seen in late effects according to timing of CVD onset, presence of concurrent vascular insults, radiation dose, or other technical factors, or by measures of disease activity.
Conclusion: RA does not appear to have an elevated rate of late toxicity. While non-RA CVD is significantly associated with increased radiation late effects at standard doses, radiation-related mortality remains exceedingly rare. The choice of therapeutic modality in this radiosensitive group of patients should be made on a case-by-case basis.