<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
MONDAY, April 29, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Single-dose high dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy is safe and effective for low-risk prostate cancer, according to a study presented at ESTRO 38, the annual meeting of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology, held from April 26 to 30 in Milan.<\/p>\n
Hannah Tharmalingam, from the Mount Vernon Cancer Center in Northwood, England, and colleagues treated 441 men with D’Amico classified low-risk (44 patients), intermediate-risk (285 patients), and high-risk (112 patients) prostate cancer with HDR monotherapy to a dose of 19 Gy delivered in a single treatment exposure. A total of 166 patients received androgen deprivation therapy.<\/p>\n
Patients were followed for a median of 26 months. The researchers found two-year biochemical progression-free survival (bPFS) rates of 100, 95, and 92 percent for low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk patients, respectively, and 94 percent for all patients. The three-year bPFS rates were 100, 86, and 75 percent for low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk, respectively, and 88 percent overall. In 25 of 27 biochemical failures, the sites of relapse were radiologically identified; 15 had a local prostate recurrence. There were no serious side effects noted at the time of the treatment; however, two men later developed urethral strictures that required surgery and two men developed rectal fistulae requiring colostomy.<\/p>\n
“This type of treatment offers an attractive alternative to surgery or other forms of radiotherapy as it has a comparatively low risk of side effects,” Tharmalingam said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Press Release<\/a><\/p>\n