Radiation treatment in patients with recurrent Kimura's disease.

PURPOSE: To assess the benefits of radiotherapy for patients with recurrent Kimura's disease and to document the role of radiation treatment as a successful mode of therapy.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: From 1985 to 1991, a total of 26 patients with Kimura's disease were treated by local excision and/or systemic steroids at Yonsei University, Yonsei Cancer Center Hospital. Seventeen patients among them eventually had local recurrence after surgical excision. The 17 patients with recurrent Kimura's disease were divided into two groups on the basis of those who received radiation treatment and those who did not. Eight patients in the nonradiation group were treated by systemic steroids alone with individualized doses and schedules. The remaining nine patients in the radiation group were treated by external beam irradiation. The prescribed radiation doses varied from 21.6 to 45 Gy. A comparative analysis on treatment results between both groups was undertaken retrospectively.

RESULTS: The majority of the recurrent cases in the nonradiation group treated by steroids alone experienced rapid rerecurrence of the disease. In contrast, all of the patients except one case in the radiation group achieved excellent local control with moderate doses of radiation. There was a significant difference in the rerecurrence rate between the patients of the radiation group (11%) and the nonradiation group (75%). No clear dose-response relationship could be derived from the patients of the radiation group. No secondary malignancies in the irradiated areas have been observed.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that radiation treatment is preferable as an alternative option for patients with recurrent Kimura's disease who have failed to achieve local control by other modalities.