Increasing the radiation dose delivered by highly conformal external beam radiation to men suffering from early stage prostate cancer shows an advantage in terms of increased disease-free survival rates, according to a study presented October 5, 2004 at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s 46th Annual Meeting in Atlanta.
For two decades, external beam radiation therapy has been one of the standard methods for treating prostate cancer. In the past, radiation oncologists have been limited in terms of the dose they could deliver to the affected area for fear of inducing serious bladder or rectal side effects. In recent years, however, external radiation has become much more accurate and the delivery of higher doses of radiation have become a real possibility.
Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Loma Linda University School of Medicine completed a study designed to determine whether or not a highly conformal technique employing the proton beam would allow the safe delivery of high radiation doses and whether or not the higher radiation doses would make a difference in the treatment of early stage prostate cancer.