Queen’s Prostate Cancer Study Reveals Best Treatment
A new NCIC Clinical Trials Group study conducted at Queen’s University reveals that combining radiation and hormone therapy in patients with high risk prostate cancer significantly improves the likelihood of patients living longer.
Wendy Parulekar, an associate professor of oncology at Queen’s and a Physician Coordinator at the NCIC CTG, described the results as having a global impact, in part because it is a type of therapy readily available now.
The study was one of the largest ever to test the effectiveness of this method, and allows doctors to have now confidence in recommending a standard treatment for men with aggressive, localized prostate cancer. The treatment is particularly beneficial because the toxicity and related side effects are minimal due to the lower levels of radiotherapy.
Although combining hormone and radiation therapy is not revolutionary treatment for prostate cancer, until now it also was not a universal standard.
Dr. Parulekar called the study “a triumph of collaborative research” between NCIC Clinical Trials Group and the Medical Research Council in the UK, who helped coordinate the study, in addition to patients who volunteered for the study.
“The results will help establish the standard of care for men with prostate cancer that is considered a high risk for spreading and becoming fatal,” she said.
The randomized controlled trial was conducted between 1995 and 2005 and included 1,205 patients with prostate cancer. Half were treated with hormone therapy, a standard form of treatment, while the other half were treated with a combination of hormone therapy and radiation. The researchers found that the addition of radiation therapy significantly reduced the risk of death.
Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among Canadian men. The Canadian Cancer Society estimates 24,600 Canadian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010 with about 4,300 dying from the disease.
Category: Technology
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