Scientists have found a way to safely treat prostate cancer in two and a half weeks

The so-called ultrahypofractionated radiotherapy will help cancer patients save time and reduce treatment costs.

According to the results of a new study, radiation therapy delivered in high doses over a shorter period showed significant safety and effectiveness in the fight against prostate cancer. The data from the experiment were presented at the conference of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology held in Barcelona at the end of April.

The new method, called ultrahypofractionated radiotherapy, allows treatment to be completed in two and a half weeks, while a standard course of radiation therapy takes eight weeks. In addition to significantly saving time, this approach also frees up radiotherapy equipment, saving money and allowing other patients to wait less for their treatment.

Without side effects

“We already know that radiation therapy can effectively destroy malignant tumours in prostate tissue. Moreover, it has several advantages over surgical intervention and hormonal therapy, as it does not cause side effects such as impotence and urinary incontinence,” says Professor Anders Widmark, senior consultant in the Department of Radiation Medicine and Oncology Center at Umeå University in Sweden.

However, conducting radiation therapy requires the use of expensive specialized equipment, which can cause patients to lose time waiting for their turn for treatment, notes the scientist. Ultrahypofractionated radiotherapy offers cancer patients numerous practical advantages and allows hospitals to save time and money. “Therefore, we decided to check how safe and effective it is compared to standard radiation therapy,” explains Anders Widmark.

How the study was conducted

The researchers conducted a study involving 1,200 patients treated in ten clinics in Sweden and Denmark from July 2005 to November 2015. All of them were diagnosed with intermediate and high-risk cancer, meaning there were clinical signs that tumour cells were likely to spread throughout the body if the disease was left untreated. At the same time, none of the men had their production of the male hormone testosterone blocked, which can promote the growth of prostate tumours.

Half of the subjects underwent traditional radiation therapy lasting eight weeks and consisting of 39 sessions, during each of which they received a standard dose of radiation equal to two Grays. The other half of the men with prostate cancer were treated using ultrahypofractionated radiotherapy, during which high doses of radioactive radiation (6.1 Grays) were delivered to the tumour – the treatment consisted of seven sessions and took only two and a half weeks.

Subsequently, the researchers monitored the patients from both groups for five years to determine whether the disease had returned, indicated by an elevated level of prostate-specific antigen, one of the main markers of malignant prostate tumours. They also noted the presence or absence of any side effects from the therapy in the subjects.

Study results

The researchers found that five years after treatment, about 84% of men who underwent standard radiation therapy showed no signs of recurrence. The same was true for patients who received ultrahypofractionated radiotherapy. Although the latter experienced slightly more pronounced side effects by the end of treatment, in the long term, they were the same as those in the first group who underwent standard radiation therapy.

“A previous study proved that it is quite possible to increase the individual dose of radiation and deliver it to the tumour over four to five weeks. Now we have confirmed that it is possible to shorten the duration of therapy even further, increasing the dose with each session – so that treatment takes no longer than two and a half weeks,” says Professor Widmark.

He also notes that this is the first large-scale study of its kind and that its results demonstrate that in the treatment of prostate cancer, ultrahypofractionated radiotherapy is as effective as standard radiation therapy. Furthermore, it showed that patients receiving treatment with the new method do not suffer from the negative side effects characteristic of traditional radiation therapy. The researchers intend to continue monitoring the patients to check whether the chosen treatment method affects survival and to track side effects in the long term.

“Recent advances in radiation therapy indicate that we now have the ability to detect tumours more effectively and target them for destruction, while minimizing the negative impact of cancer treatment on healthy organs and tissues. In the case of prostate cancer, this means that men after treatment will be able to maintain sexual function and normal urinary system operation,” says Professor Yolande Livens, head of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University Hospital in Ghent, Belgium. He also notes that now doctors have the opportunity to give patients higher individual doses of radiation, thus reducing the duration of the treatment course.

The study results confirm the equally high effectiveness of ultrahypofractionated and traditional radiation therapy. For patients, this means they will spend less time and money traveling to and from the hospital, which is especially important when it comes to traveling for treatment in another country. For the medical institutions themselves, this means that they will soon be able to save resources and treat a larger number of patients in need of quality medical care, the researchers note.