Objective
To determine the prevalence of urinary tract infections (UTI), and their association with dose to
bladder, bladder volume and treatment time in patients with early prostate cancer during three
dimensional (3D) conformal radiotherapy.
Patients and Methods
Fifty-four patients with localized prostate cancer who were to undergo curative radiation of 7000 cGy
over eight to nine weeks were enrolled in the study. Patients catheterized during or within four weeks
of pelvic radiation were excluded. Statistical analysis of frequencies, percentages and correlation
coefficients was done by using SPSS version 17.0
Results
Urine culture was positive in 9 out of 54 patients (16.6%) with E. coli in all specimens (100%) and
mixed growth of pseudomonas and E. coli in 4 out 9 (44.4%) cases. Six out of 9 (66.6%) cases were
resistant to ciprofloxacin. Mean bladder volume irradiated was 127.17 cm.3 No dose-volume or
treatment time relationship for infectious cystitis was seen.
Conclusions
Infectious cystitis occured in 16.6% of patients with early prostate cancer during conformal
radiotherapy. No relationship was seen with dose, volume of bladder irradiated and treatment time.
Weekly urine culture during radiotherapy can prevent serious sequelae. Resistance to ciprofloxacin
raises a concern for inappropriate wide usage by general practitioners in Asian countries. (Rawal med
J 2009;34: )
Key words: Prostate cancer, conformal radiotherapy, UTI, dose-volume relationship.
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