24
Sep 2019
Prostate cancer breakthrough with new radiotherapy trials
A radical new radiotherapy approach is set to benefit prostate cancer patients, cutting the length of treatment from eight weeks to five days.
Radiotherapy has traditionally been given over 39 days, requiring patients to attend hospital every weekday for nearly two months. However, the new trial means that powerful beams of precisely targeted radiation can be delivered in only five sessions.
The trial which involved 8487 prostate cancer patients, was carried out by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden Hospital in London.
Early results of the study found that it was ‘promising’ in finding a cure for the disease and that side effects were no worse than with the current treatment.
Douglas Brand, study author and from the Institute of Cancer Research, said “The new results from our clinical trial have shown that a much shorter course of higher-dose radiotherapy does not increase the short-term side effects compared with the current standard of care. If the data on longer-term side effects and efficacy are also positive, we expect our trial could be practice-changing.
“This would enable us to deliver curative treatment over fewer days, meaning that men would get the same benefit from their radiotherapy while having to spend less time in hospital.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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