The use of more precise radiotherapy treatments involving MRI-planned external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) on prostate cancer patients is not only curing them, but is doing so in a way that preserves their sexual function, according to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
In the study researchers, led by Patrick W. McLaughlin, M.D., director of radiation oncology at the University of Michigan Providence Cancer Institute in Novi, Michigan, compared the five-year sexual function outcomes of patients who were treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) compared to those treated with a combination of EBRT plus brachytherapy.
The patients' treatment with EBRT involves MRI-based planning to pinpoint critical blood vessels in the area being targeted that are responsible for erections. Of 91 patients studied, all patients received EBRT, with 49 receiving both EBRT and Brachytherapy. The researchers found that according to a three-question self-evaluation by the patients themselves that their erective function was "remarkably preserved" with the use of EBRT, even in those patients who received the combination EBRT-brachytherapy treatment.
Thirty-three of the 42 patients who received EBRT and 45 of the 49 who received both EBRT and brachytherapy reported having the ability to be sexually active with or without aids over five years in their post-treatment period.
"In the past, men with prostate cancer expected to pay a high toll in loss of quality of life to achieve cure and were willing to accept that as necessary," said McLaughlin in an announcement. "This study makes it clear that even with combination radiation protocols, which are capable of curing the majority of prostate cancers more than 90 percent of the time, avoidance of critical adjacent tissues, such as vessel-sparing, makes cure and quality of life an achievable goal for many men."
To learn more:
-see the study abstract
- see the announcement
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