Lead investigator Professor David Dearnaley, Professor of Uro-Oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Consultant at The Royal Marsden, said:
“Our study shows that the new regime of fewer, larger doses of modern intensity-modulated radiotherapy is at least as effective as the current standard and does not cause higher rates of side-effects. Indeed, side-effects with either regime were less than half what they were in a previous trial of older, conformal radiotherapy.
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“Overall our results make a compelling case to change practice within the NHS and move from a 37-day regime to one that lasts 20 days. As well as saving men from repeated hospital visits, this could save tens of millions of pounds per year.”
Study co-leader Dr Emma Hall, Deputy Director of the Cancer Research UK-funded Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, which co-ordinated the study, said:
“Historically we’ve seen radiotherapy given in smaller doses over quite extended periods of time – and in prostate cancer treatment, the standard is still more than five weeks of daily treatment.
“But radiotherapy technology has developed over recent years, meaning we can target doses to tumours more accurately and reduce the dose to surrounding tissue. Our trial shows that modern radiotherapy allows men to undergo fewer, higher doses for the same result, both in terms of treatment effectiveness and quality of life.”
Professor Malcolm Mason, Cancer Research UK’s prostate cancer expert, said:
"These results are great news for men. From a logistical and patient convenience point of view, being able to treat patients over a shorter period of time has been a goal for specialists, but the question has always been whether it was safe to do so. This study shows that it is safe and effective, and there should be no reason why this cannot be implemented immediately – it is saving the NHS resources.
"But there are still questions we need answers to. It’s not impossible that fewer, but bigger fractions of radiotherapy might be still better at controlling the disease, but this would need more data from large clinical trials to answer. We look forward to seeing more research – perhaps by combining this and similar studies. It’s also valuable to see the impact of the shorter treatment on side effects. Reassuringly, these are no different to the older, standard treatment.
“Treating patients in this way means that special attention should be paid to the very best radiotherapy planning, including the need for the most sophisticated equipment and looking at whether newer techniques like intensity modulated radiotherapy – IMRT – might be especially useful in this setting.”
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