Worse survival without [brachytherapy] boost in high-risk patients
Ronald D. Ennis, MD. Image credit: OncLive.
At long last, the mounting scientific evidence for the value of brachytherapy for prostate cancer treatment is starting to generate more awareness among the care community and associated industry publications.
Responding to a recent report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Charles Bankhead, Senior Associate Editor for Medpage Today published the following:
“Men who had EBRT plus ADT, but no brachytherapy, had a significantly greater mortality risk versus surgery, reported Ronald D. Ennis, MD, of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
“In the absence of randomized trials, these data, in conjunction with patient-reported quality of life, should be shared with patients to help guide their individualized treatment decisions,” they added.
“I think we’re starting to see that radical prostatectomy isn’t offering much of an advantage over a radiation therapy approach,” [Jeff] Michalski, MD of Washington University in St. Louis told MedPage Today. “The caveats are that these aren’t prospective studies looking at these high-risk groups of patients, and there are subtle selection differences that we may never be able to control outside the context of a randomized study.”
Brachytherapy’s place in high-risk disease
“I do believe that men with high-risk disease need not undergo radical prostatectomy,” said Michalski, who was not involved in the study. “They need to meet with a radiation oncologist to compare the pros and cons of treatment with a combination of external beam radiation therapy and hormone therapy and, when appropriate, brachytherapy, because that does appear to offer some benefit.”
Read the data-driven article in its entirety here.
Given the advancements in imaging, delivery systems and a new, fast acting, short half-life isotope (Cesium-131), it is time for those treating prostate cancer to take another look at brachytherapy. To arrange a call or meeting contact customerservice@isoray.com
