Radiotherapy benefits some men whose prostate cancer has spread to their bones

This NIHR Signal adds further evidence that radiotherapy could benefit men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer with local metastases. The trial used CT and bone scans to define low and high metastatic burden. PET scans, which can detect smaller cancer deposits, are becoming widely available and may allocate people differently. However, the researchers did perform further analysis using different definitions of ' low metastatic burden ' , with similar positive results. They are now planning to refine the definition to be more clinically useful.Nevertheless, radiotherapy can now be considered as a potential add-on treatment in men without advanced metastases, but the optimal dose and schedule still needs to be determined.
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news