Goodbye prostate cancer?

A five-year study shows that Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) to treat prostate cancer offers a higher cure rate than more traditional approaches, according to researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

The study — the first trial to publish five-year results from SBRT treatment for prostate cancer — found a 98.6 per cent cure rate with SBRT, a non-invasive form of radiation treatment that involves high-dose radiation beams entering the body through various angles and intersecting at the desired target. It is a state-of-the-art technology that allows for a concentrated dose to reach the tumour while limiting the radiation dose to surrounding healthy tissue.

“The high cure rate is striking when compared to the reported five-year cure rates from other approaches like surgery or conventional radiation, which range between 80 to 90 per cent, while the side effects of this treatment are comparable to other types of treatment,” said Dr Raquibul Hannan, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and lead author for the study. “What we now have is a more potent and effective form of completely non-invasive treatment for prostate cancer, conveniently completed in five treatments.”

Conventional treatment options for early stage prostate cancer include: Prostatectomy, the surgical removal of the prostate gland, which can be done with minimally invasive techniques and robotic assistance.

Brachytherapy, in which doctors implant numerous small radioactive seeds about the size of a grain of rice into the prostate gland using multiple large needles inserted through the skin in the operating room. Once implanted, the seeds release their radioactivity directly into the prostate gland. External beam radiation, which involves 42 to 45 treatments administered over two or more months, five days a week.

“The current form of radiation is 44 treatments given over nine weeks. In contrast, the SBRT therapy we used allows the delivery of highly focused radiation in only five treatments, allowing patients to return to their normal lives more quickly,” said senior author Dr Robert Timmerman, director of the Annette Simmons Stereotactic Treatment Center at UT Southwestern, and professor and vice chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology. “SBRT is both more convenient and has increased potency.”

UT Southwestern served as the lead site for the multi-institutional clinical trial, which involved first-time prostate cancer patients diagnosed with stage I or stage II (low and intermediate risk) prostate cancer. A total of 91 patients were treated prospectively and followed for five years, with only one patient experiencing a recurrence of his cancer. The findings are published in the European Journal of Cancer.

— Source: www.sciencedaily.com