AIM: To investigate the effect of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3-DCRT) in combination with FOLFOX4 chemotherapy for unresectable recurrent rectal cancer.METHODS: Forty-eight patients with unresectable recurrent rectal cancer were randomized and treated by 3-DCRT or 3-DCRT combined with FOLFOX4 chemotherapy between September 2001 and October 2003. For the patients without prior radiation history,the initial radiation was given to the whole pelvis by traditional methods with tumor dose of 40 Gy, followed by 3-DCRT for the recurrent lesions to the median total cumulative tumor dose of 60 Gy (range 56-66 Gy);for the post-radiation recurrent patients, 3-DCRT was directly given for the recurrent lesions to the median tumor dose of 40 Gy (36-46 Gy). For patients in the study group, two cycles chemotherapy with FOLFOX4 regimen were given concurrently with radiotherapy, with the first cycle given simultaneously with the initiation of radiation and the second cycle given in the fifth week for patients receiving conventional pelvis radiation or given in the last week of 3-DCRT for patients receiving 3-DCRT directly. Another 2-4 cycles (average 3.6 cycles) sequential FOLFOX4 regimen chemotherapy were given to the patients in the study group, beginning at 2-3 wk after chemoradiation. The outcomes of symptoms relieve, tumor response, survival and toxicity were recorded and compared between the study group and the control group.RESULTS: For the study group and the control group,the pain-alleviation rates were 95.2% and 91.3%(P＞0.05); the overall response rates were 56.5%and 40.0% (P＞0.05); the 1-year and 2-year survival rates were 86.9%, 50.2% and 80.0%, 23.9%, with median survival time of 25 mo and 16 mo (P＜0.05);the 2-year distant metastasis rates were 39.1% and 56.0% (P= 0.054), respectively. The side effects, except peripheral neuropathy which was relatively severer in the study group, were similar in the the two groups and well tolerated.CONCLUSION: Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy combined with FOLFOX4 chemotherapy for unresectable recurrent rectal cancer is a feasible and effective therapeutic approach, and can reduce distant metastasis rate and improve the survival rate.