(UroToday.com) The 2022 ASTRO annual meeting featured a prostate cancer session, including a presentation by Suvidya Pachigolla discussing the proportion of prostate cancer randomized clinical trials involving radiation therapy over time. As a cornerstone of oncologic treatment, radiation therapy is often incorporated in randomized clinical trials. However, many trials may focus on systemic therapy rather than radiation therapy, despite numerous technological advances in radiation therapy. The primary purpose of this study presented at ASTRO 2022 was to quantify the proportion of prostate cancer randomized clinical trials involving radiation therapy over time.
Pachigolla and colleagues conducted an analysis of all therapeutic prostate cancer randomized clinical trials from 2000 to 2021 in clinicaltrials.gov. They extracted all studies labeled condition or disease “Cancer,” study type “Interventional,” and other terms “prostate.” Subsequently, they analyzed the percentage of trials with at least one radiation therapy arm. The study date was classified as 2000-2005, 2006-2010, 2011-2015, and 2016-2020. Covariates included study phase and patient enrollment.
There were 1,104 prostate cancer randomized clinical trials extracted of which 208 (19%) included at least one radiation therapy arm. Most prostate cancer randomized clinical trials were Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials. The proportion of prostate cancer radiation therapy randomized clinical trials to all prostate cancer randomized clinical trials was 35/169 (21%), 28/242 (12%), 48/287 (17%), and 97/406 (24%) for 2000-2005, 2006-2010, 2011-2015, and 2016-2020, respectively. The median patient enrollment for radiation therapy prostate cancer randomized clinical trials decreased from 340 to 130 patients from 2000-2005 to 2016-2020. However, median patient enrollment for all prostate cancer randomized clinical trials remained stable at 141 to 120 patients from 2000–2005 to 2016-2020:
Suvidya Pachigolla concluded this presentation by noting that the proportion of radiation therapy prostate cancer randomized clinical trials remained stable over time, however, median patient enrollment decreased over time.
Presented by: Suvidya L. Pachigolla, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
Co-Authors: M. T. King, 2
Written by: Zachary Klaassen, MD, MSc – Urologic Oncologist, Assistant Professor of Urology, Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University/Medical College of Georgia, @zklaassen_md on Twitter during the 2022 American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Hybrid Meeting, San Antonio, TX, Sat, Oct 22 – Wed, Oct 26, 2022.