In a nutshell
The authors aimed to determine how radiotherapy influenced patient quality of life after treatment.
Some background
Radiotherapy is a common treatment used in prostate cancer. It targets a direct beam of radiation at the cancer site, minimizing damage to adjacent healthy cells. There are numerous types of radiotherapy, including hypofractionated radiotherapy. Hypofractionated therapy involves larger or more frequent doses of radiation over shorter periods of time compared to standard radiotherapy which favors smaller or fewer doses over longer periods of time. It is not clear whether hypofractionated therapy leads to more toxicities (negative effects) than does standard therapy.
Methods & findings
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of radiotherapy on patient quality of life after treatment.
2,100 patients were used in this study. Patients were split into three groups. Group 1 had 696 patients who received the standard radiotherapy of 74 Gy (units used to measure radiation dose) in 37 cycles. 698 patients in group 2 received 60 Gy in 20 cycles. 706 patients in group 3 received 57 Gy in 19 cycles. There was an average follow up of 50 months.
There was little to no difference between the groups in patients who experienced very low, low, moderate to severe bowel problems after treatment over a 2-year period. 66% of patients in group 1 and 65% in groups 2 and 3 experienced no bowel problems. 22% in groups 1 and 2 and 21% in group 3 experienced very slight bowel problems. 6% in group 1, 7% in group 2 and 9% in group 3 experienced small problems. 5% in groups 1 and 3 and 6% in group 2 experienced moderate bowel problems. Less than 1% across all groups experienced severe bowel problems.
The bottom line
The authors concluded that there was little to no difference between different doses of radiation and their effect on bowel function.
Published By :
The Lancet. Oncology
Date :
Oct 27, 2015
