CONTEXT: New therapeutic alternatives can improve the safety and efficacy of prostate cancer treatment.
OBJECTIVES: To assess whether hypofractionated radiation therapy results in better safety and efficacy in the treatment of prostate cancer.
ACQUISITION OF EVIDENCE: Systematic review of the literature through searches on PubMed, Cochrane Library, CRD, ClinicalTrials and EuroScan, collecting indicators of safety and efficacy.
SYNTHESIS OF THE EVIDENCE: We included 2 systematic reviews and a clinical trial. In terms of efficacy, there is considerable heterogeneity among the studies, and no conclusive results were found concerning the superiority of the hypofractionated option over the normal fractionated option. In terms of safety, there were no significant differences in the onset of acute genitourinary complications between the 2 treatments. However, one of the reviews found more acute gastrointestinal complications in patients treated with hypofractionated radiation therapy. There were no significant differences in long-term complications based on the type of radiation therapy used, although the studies did have limitations.
CONCLUSIONS: To date, there are no conclusive results that show that hypofractionated radiation therapy is more effective or safer than normal fractionated radiation therapy in the treatment of localized prostate cancer.
Written by:
Sánchez-Gómez LM, Polo-deSantos M, Rodríguez-Melcón JI, Angulo JC, Luengo-Matos S. Are you the author?
Agencia de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias (AETS), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Madrid, España; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Universitario de La Princesa (IP), Madrid, España; Red de Investigación en Servicios de Salud en Enfermedades Crónicas (REDISSEC), España; Servicio de Oncología Radioterápica, Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España; Servicio de Urología, Hospital Universitario de Getafe, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, España.
Reference: Actas Urol Esp. 2015 Feb 5. pii: S0210-4806(15)00002-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.acuro.2014.12.005
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25660427
Article in English, Spanish.