Is there a role for radiation in palliating malignant small bowel obstruction?

This problem has similarities to the management of symptomatic brain metastases. In both cases, cancer has caused a buildup of pressure in a vital organ. In both cases, it would be important to take non-radiotherapeutic measures (steroids in the case of brain mets, upstream decompression for SBO) to...

I am unaware of any reports of the use of radiotherapy to relieve a malignant small bowel obstruction, so if someone does try this, I hope they report the outcomes for the patient. There is a fairly sizable literature documenting the use of expandable stents as a non-surgical approach to relieving l...