Correspondence: Prostatic sarcoma after treatment for rectal cancer

The authors Abbas SM, and Hill AG [1] outline their experience of a case of prostatic sarcoma occurring four years post neoadjuvant radiation therapy for primary mid rectal adenocarcinoma. They correctly state that as this second malignancy occurred within the radiation field it meets the criteria for a radiation – induced second malignancy. However, it has been noted that while there is no established dose response relationship for sarcoma that they are generally felt to occur within the high dose region. A dose of 4500 cGy seems unlikely to lead to sarcoma formation within such a short time frame.