Proton Therapy Effective for Prostate Cancer Treatment

Proton therapy, a type of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment for prostate cancer, according to two new studies.

The studies were published in the January 2012 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology.Biology.Physics, the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) official scientific journal. In the first study, researchers from the University of Florida (Jacksonville, USA) prospectively evaluated 211 men with low-, intermediate-, and high-risk prostate cancer.

After a two-year follow-up, the researchers, led by Nancy Mendenhall, MD, of the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute, reported that the treatment was effective and that the gastrointestinal and genitourinary side effects were typically negligible. “This study is important because it will help set normal tissue guidelines in future trials,” Dr. Mendenhall, said.

In the second study, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA, USA), Loma Linda University Medical Center (Loma Linda, CA, USA) and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (Philadelphia, PA, USA) conducted a case-matched analysis comparing high-dose external beam radiation therapy using a combination of photons (X-rays) and protons with brachytherapy.

Over three years, 196 patients received the external beam treatments. Their data were compared to 203 men of similar stages who received brachytherapy over the same time period. The investigators then compared the biochemical failure rates (a statistical measure of whether the cancer relapses) and determined that men who received the proton/photon therapy had the same rate of recurrence as the men who received brachytherapy.

“For men with prostate cancer, brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy using photons and protons are both highly effective treatments with similar relapse rates,” stated J. Coen, MD, a radiation oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Based on these data, it is our belief that men with prostate cancer can reasonably choose either treatment for localized prostate cancer based on their own concerns about quality of life without fearing they are compromising their chance for a cure.”

Related Links:
University of Florida
Massachusetts General Hospital
Linda University Medical Center