ASTRO 2018: Stereotactic Body Radiation for Low- and Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer
Posted: Monday, October 29, 2018
A study presented at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) supports the premise that stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is a safe and effective treatment for men with low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer (Abstract 217). According to the lead author, Amar U. Kishan, MD, of the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, the study clears the way for these patients who may wish to shorten their course of treatment.
“Radiation therapy is typically delivered in small daily doses over a multiweek period,” explained Dr. Kishan in an ASTRO press release. “However, because prostate cancer cells appear to be unusually sensitive to higher daily doses of radiation, you can reduce the duration of treatment from as many as 8 to 9 weeks with 39 to 45 treatments down to about 1.5 weeks with 45 to treatments. This study should allay the fears of those who prefer to undertake a shorter treatment course that they can do so safely and with the same, positive outcomes they would receive from a longer course of treatment.”
Of the 2,142 patients evaluated, 55.3% (n = 1,185) had low-risk disease; 32.3% (n = 692) had favorable intermediate-risk disease; and 12.4% (n = 265) had unfavorable intermediate-risk disease. Overall survival rates for the low-risk and favorable intermediate-risk groups were 91.4% and 93.7%, respectively, at 7 years after treatment. In the unfavorable intermediate-risk group, the most aggressive form of cancer in this study, overall survival was 86.5% at 7 years.
“These numbers are identical, if not superior, to other types of more commonly used radiation techniques,” said Dr. Kishan. “There is no evidence of worse toxicity with stereotactic body radiation therapy. We have shown that this method…should be a standard treatment option for patients with low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer.”
