New study Prostate Cancer Therapy Successful in Trial

HYPOSTAT study examines precision radiation in prostate cancer

Many men suffer from prostate cancer during their lifetime, and the prospects for successful treatment have improved significantly in recent years. Experts are hoping for further advances in therapy from the so-called CyberKnife technology, which is currently being tested in this country as part of the HYPOSTAT study.

The new technology of short-term high-dose radiosurgery using a robot-assisted linear accelerator for radiosurgery - in short "CyberKnife" - offers hope for a significantly more efficient treatment of prostate cancer, with better chances of success with fewer side effects. The HYPOSTAT study is now to be expanded accordingly and the use of the new treatment method to be tested on a larger number of patients.

Less individual irradiation required

The study is being carried out jointly by scientists from the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), the University Hospital Frankfurt, the University Medical Center Rostock, the University Medical Center Greifswald and the Saphir Radiosurgery Centers. Currently, new funding has been approved and new centers and new inclusion criteria have been added to younger patients, the UKSH reports. The precision irradiation allows a reduction of the total number of single exposures to five sessions within one to two weeks.

Treatment method in the US for years in the trial

In principle, "extremely hypofractionated radiation surgery in prostate cancer is not a new treatment concept," reports the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein. This treatment technique has been actively tested in the USA for more than 15 years. The approach that a high-dose short-term radiotherapy for the prostate biologically more advantageous than a conventional fractionated radiotherapy, also based on the good results of high-dose brachytherapy, which have been achieved since the 1990s on Campus Kiel of the UKSH.

Positive results in comparative study

For the first time, a direct comparative study between CyberKnife Radiation Surgery and Conventional Fractionated Radiation Therapy was published for the first time, which found significantly fewer side effects with the new treatment method. "The data from Poland showed a significantly lower degree-2 side-effect rate of 3-12 percent for radiation surgery compared to 18-42 percent for conventional radiotherapy," according to the UKSH. Although the evaluation of the tumor control was still pending, the biological radiation dose in the prostate had been significantly higher in the radiosurgical treatments, which gives hope for better treatment results.

New technology in this country is just beginning

In the first evaluation of the data of 400 treated patients in Poland, a median follow-up time of 15 months showed a "tumor control rate of 97.75 percent with only one percent local recurrence rate in the prostate," reports the UKSH. The researchers were also able to prove that the PSA course after radiotherapy with additional hormone therapy is no different from that without hormone therapy. According to the announcement of the UKSH, additional hormone therapy after radiation surgery can be dispensed with. "The data from Poland confirm our assumptions and support the HYPOSTAT study all the more," says study leader Professor Dr. med. Jürgen Dunst, Director of the Department of Radiotherapy at UKSH. So far, all patients have been very satisfied and the side effects were expected to be low. "But we are only just starting in comparison to other countries", emphasizes the expert. (Fp)