Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy Better for Sparing BladderWhen

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy Better for Sparing Bladder When
Treating
Prostate Cancer

FAIRFAX, VA -- October 10, 2007 --
When treating early-stage prostate cancer, intensity modulated radiation
therapy (IMRT) spares the bladder significantly more from direct
radiation when compared to 3-D conformal proton therapy (3D-CPT), but
the amount of rectal sparing is similar with both treatments, according
to a study released in the October issue of the International Journal
for Radiation

Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society
for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

"This study was important because it reassures a patient with prostate
cancer that the methods that are available at his local hospital may, in
many cases, be as good as those that are currently only available in a
limited number of centers," said Anthony L. Zietman, MD, a professor of
radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School and a radiation oncologist
at Massachusetts General Hospital.

According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 218,890 new
cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2007.

One in six men will get prostate cancer in his lifetime; however, only
one in 35 men will die from the disease due in part to the wide variety
of treatment options available.

The Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Radiation Oncology and
Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, jointly conducted the study to
determine the comparative dosimetric benefits and drawbacks of IMRT
versus 3D-CPT as treatments for patients with prostate cancer and to
determine whether specific cases should be assigned to one treatment
method over the other. The study sought to identify the sites in which
proton therapy offers an advantage over IMRT; IMRT is a readily
available form of treatment, but proton therapy is only available at
five treatment centers in the United States.

Ten patients with clinically-localized early-stage prostate cancer were
randomly selected for the study and treated with both IMRT and 3D-CPT.
The percentage of bladder volumes receiving more than 70 Gy/CGE was
reduced by an average of 34 percent when using IMRT versus 3D-CPT, but
the rectal volumes were found to be equivalent.

SOURCE: The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
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