• Center on Health Equity & Access
  • Clinical
  • Health Care Cost
  • Health Care Delivery
  • Insurance
  • Policy
  • Technology
  • Value-Based Care

Abbreviated Radiotherapy Shows Promise in Prostate Cancer

Article

Dramatically condensing radiation treatment for early prostate cancer into just 5 fractions produces good results without much toxicity, an early-phase study suggested. The hypofractionated schedule resulted in 99% biochemical and pathological control and only 1% experienced mild radiation side effects at 3 years, D. Andrew Loblaw, MD, of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto, and colleagues found.

Acute toxicity topped out at 1 case of grade 3 genitourinary problems among 83 patients treated, they reported here at the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

"That's a huge deal. Normal dosing is 40 to 45 fractions," Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD, medical director of the developmental therapeutics committee of US Oncology, told MedPage Today. "Using accelerated hypofractionation, you can get what appear to be identical outcomes."

Not only would the once-weekly schedule with a total of only 5 radiation treatments used in the study be more convenient for patients, but it would likely substantially drop overall radiation costs, Vogelzang predicted.

Read more at: http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/MGUCS/31020

Source: MedPage Today

Related Videos
Jorge García, PharmD, MS, MBA, MHA, FACHE, FACCC
Screenshot of an interview with Shaun McKenzie, MD
Screenshot of an interview with Shaun McKenzie, MD
Screenshot of an interview with Rohan Garje, MD
Susan Escudier, MD, FACP
Sabarish Ayyappan, MD
Susan Escudier, MD, FACP
Screenshot of an interview with Evangelia Vlachou, MD
Screenshot of an interview with Barry Goy, MD
Related Content
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences
AJMC®
All rights reserved.