Prostate cancer deaths ‘lowered by radiotherapy’

DEATHS from high-risk prostate cancer can be cut by giving men radiation treatment as well as hormonal therapy, research has shown.

A trial involving 1,200 men with locally advanced cancers found additional radiotherapy led to 43% fewer deaths after seven years.

All the men received standard hormone therapy, which uses drugs to prevent testosterone fuelling the cancer. Half the participants were also given radiation treatment.

Early results showed that 79% of men who had hormone therapy alone were alive seven years later compared with 90% who received radiotherapy and hormone drugs.

Hormone treatments can work well but some men stop responding to the drugs after a few years.

Trial leader Professor Malcom Mason, from the University of Cardiff, said: “These exciting results clearly show how radiotherapy increases survival for men with this type of prostate cancer.

“Currently, we estimate that around 40% of men like those in the trial are given radiotherapy in the UK, and we hope that more men will now be offered this important option.”

The men who received radiotherapy were treated five days a week for between six or seven weeks as outpatients. Initial side effects were mild but radiotherapy is not a “soft” treatment option. It has long-term effects that may not be seen for three or four years, including a risk of impotency.

Kate Law, director of clinical research at Cancer Research UK, said: “Radiotherapy is sometimes an overlooked treatment, but this trial shows how vital it can be.”