Two-week radiotherapy proven as safe and effective as eight-week course for prostate cancer: 10-year follow-up

Prostate most cancers is essentially the most generally identified most cancers in males worldwide, accounting for greater than 1.4 million new circumstances annually. For a lot of sufferers, radiotherapy is an ordinary therapy possibility that provides outcomes similar to surgical procedure, notably for localized illness.

As an outpatient process, it permits males to take care of a lot of their each day routine throughout therapy. Nevertheless, conventional radiotherapy schedules sometimes span a number of weeks, which may be burdensome for sufferers and put strain on well being care constructions and radiotherapy capability.

A serious medical trial (HYPO-RT-PC) has proven {that a} considerably shorter course of radiotherapy for localized prostate most cancers is simply as protected and efficient as the standard eight-week schedule—even 10 years after therapy.

The findings, introduced at ESTRO 2025, the annual congress of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology, give each sufferers and medical doctors better confidence in selecting this short-course method, additionally known as “extremely hypo-fractionated radiotherapy.” The paper can also be printed within the journal Radiotherapy and Oncology.

The examine, led by researchers in Sweden, discovered that delivering precision radiotherapy over simply two and a half weeks is equally profitable in beating prostate most cancers as the usual eight-week method. A decade after therapy, each choices produced related illness management charges and survival.

“These long-term findings affirm earlier five-year outcomes from the trial, displaying that delivering fewer, increased doses over a shorter interval works simply in addition to the usual method—not simply in concept, however in real-world medical apply,” concludes Affiliate Professors Per Nilsson, senior radiation physicist, and Adalsteinn Gunnlaugsson, radiation oncologist, who led the 10-year final result evaluation of the HYPO-RT-PC trial, at Skåne College Hospital and Lund College, Sweden.

“For sufferers, this implies much less disruption to each day life and probably decrease well being care prices—with out compromising outcomes and security.”

This huge Part III medical trial enrolled 1,200 males with intermediate- to high-risk localized prostate most cancers. Members have been randomly assigned to obtain both:

Quick-course radiotherapy: 42.7 Grey (Gy) delivered in seven classes over 2.5 weeks
Customary-course radiotherapy: 78.0 Gy delivered in 39 classes over 8 weeks

Researchers assessed survival, most cancers recurrence, and treatment-related uncomfortable side effects, together with urinary and bowel signs.

Key outcomes after 10 years:

Failure-free survival (no return of most cancers or want for added therapy): 72% within the short-course group vs. 65% in the usual group
Total survival: 81% for short-course vs. 79% for traditional
Prostate cancer-specific mortality: 4% in each teams
Unwanted effects: Urinary and bowel signs have been related in each teams, and most have been delicate to average.

“These findings affirm that the shorter course doesn’t enhance long-term uncomfortable side effects and offers equally sturdy most cancers management,” added Camilla Thellenberg-Karlsson, MD, Ph.D., at Umeå College, who introduced the outcomes on the ESTRO assembly.

These outcomes reveal how fashionable radiotherapy approaches could make therapy extra environment friendly, accessible, and patient-friendly—with out sacrificing effectiveness or security.

Professor Matthias Guckenberger, President of ESTRO, added, “Shorter therapy schedules imply sufferers can return to their regular lives extra shortly.

“Lowering therapy time to only two and a half weeks is a serious win for each sufferers and well being methods.

“This examine exemplifies the type of impactful, practice-changing analysis we’re proud to showcase at ESTRO 2025.”