SynthesisJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2016
Effects of radiation therapy on the structure and function of the pelvic floor muscles of patients with cancer in the pelvic area: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction in Women After Pelvic Radiotherapy: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International urogynecology journal · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Pelvic Floor Muscle and Education-Based Therapies on Bladder, Bowel, Vaginal, Sexual, Psychological Function, Quality of Life, and Pelvic Floor Muscle Function in Females Treated for Gynecological Cancer: A Systematic Review.Current oncology reports · 2024Pooled it
- Long term genitourinary toxicity following curative intent intensity-modulated radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Prostate cancer and prostatic diseases · 2023Pooled it
- The Influence of Running on Lower Limb Cartilage: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- Randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of the symptom management after radiotherapy (SMaRT) group intervention to ameliorate lower urinary tract symptoms in men treated for prostate cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022Trial
- Long-term follow-up 3 years after a randomized rehabilitation study among radiated prostate cancer survivors.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2021Trial
- Vaginal dilator therapy for pelvic cancer patients: a review.Gynecologic oncology reports · 2026Review
- Patients' perspective in anal cancer.ESMO gastrointestinal oncology · 2026Review
- NAALADL1 modulates cellular resistance to Tumor Treating Fields in colorectal cancer.NPJ precision oncology · 2026Article
- Multi-strain bacterial combination mitigates pelvic irradiation-induced gut damage by preserving gut integrity, inhibiting inflammation and apoptosis.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Radiation-specific sexual and reproductive health challenges in adolescent and young adults assigned female at birth: a mixed-methods study of unmet needs post pelvic radiotherapy.Gynecologic oncology reports · 2026Article
- Exercise and physiotherapy for enhancing muscle strength, managing lower-limb lymphedema, and improving sexual function in the treatment and survivorship of gynecological cancers.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Pelvic floor muscle therapy for sexual dysfunction in gynaecological cancer survivors.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Investigation of pelvic floor influence on prostate displacement in image-guided radiotherapy.The Prostate · 2025Article
- Efficacy of bladder instillations with adelmidrol and sodium hyaluronate for the treatment of symptomatic radiation cystitis.Frontiers in surgery · 2025Article
- Post-radiation levator ani atrophy is associated with worse Low Anterior Resection Syndrome score after nonoperative management for locally advanced rectal cancer: a potential MRI biomarker.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Telehealth exercise for continence after gynaecological cancer treatment (TELE-CONNECT): a protocol for a co-designed pragmatic randomised controlled trial.BMC women's health · 2024Article
- The Effect of Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation on Low Anterior Resection Syndrome After Colorectal Cancer Treatment.Journal of the advanced practitioner in oncology · 2024Article
- Mid-urethral sling with proper sling tension is an effective treatment for stress urinary incontinence in women after pelvic radiotherapy: a pilot study of case series.Frontiers in surgery · 2024Article
- GI factors, potential to predict prostate motion during radiotherapy; a scoping review.Clinical and translational radiation oncology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeRadiation therapy (RT) is often recommended in the treatment of pelvic cancers. Following RT, a high prevalence of pelvic floor dysfunctions (urinary incontinence, dyspareunia, and fecal incontinence) is reported. However, changes in pelvic floor muscles (PFMs) after RT remain unclear. The purpose of this review was to systematically document the effects of RT on the PFM structure and function in patients with cancer in the pelvic area.
methodsAn electronic literature search using Pubmed Central, CINAHL, Embase, and SCOPUS was performed from date of inception up to June 2014. The following keywords were used: radiotherapy, muscle tissue, and pelvic floor. Two reviewers selected the studies in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Statement (PRISMA). Out of the 369 articles screened, 13 met all eligibility criteria. The methodological quality was assessed using the QualSyst scoring system, and standardized mean differences were calculated.
resultsThirteen studies fulfilled all inclusion criteria, from which four were of good methodological quality. One presented strong evidence that RT affects PFM structure in men treated for prostate cancer. Four presented high-level evidence that RT affects PFM function in patients treated for rectal cancer. Meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity and lack of descriptive statistics.
conclusionThere is some evidence that RT has detrimental impacts on both PFMs' structure and function. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: A better understanding of muscle damage and dysfunction following RT treatment will improve pelvic floor rehabilitation and, potentially, prevention of its detrimental impacts.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.