Usually, in the case of a malignant tumor, the entire prostate is irradiated. However, modern imaging tools allow a gentler approach: targeting only the malignant focus.
What is so special about the new technology?
HypoFocal-SBRT is a focal escalation of radiation therapy based on high-resolution imaging. It allows more intense radiation doses to be delivered directly to the tumor site.
Until now, the whole prostate has been treated uniformly. The new method is more gentle both for the gland itself and for the surrounding tissues and organs.
Where is the novel therapy available, and who can benefit?
Maria Hilf Radiation Therapy Clinic in MΓΆnchengladbach was one of the first in Germany to use HypoFocal-SBRT. Here, targeted prostate irradiation is used for medium and high risk primary (untreated) prostate cancer.
The team of specialists in MΓΆnchengladbach, led by renowned radiologist Prof. Ursula Nestle, MD, PhD, has been entrusted with the task of leading the national implementation of this high-tech procedure. Associated departments of this multidisciplinary medical center are also involved in therapy planning and administration, including the Urologic Oncology Center (chief physician Prof. Dr. Herbert Sperling, MD), the Radiology Clinic (chief physician Prof. Dr. Adrian Ringelstein, MD), and the Nuclear Medicine clinic (chief physician Prof. Wolfgang SchΓ€fer, MD). According to Prof. Sperling, the new method will help achieve a higher recovery rate with fewer complications. At the same time, the duration of therapy has been reduced from the standard eight weeks to four weeks. In the future, the authors of the technique expect the treatment time to be reduced to 2 weeks with the same effectiveness.
The quality of treatment is monitored by the University Hospital Freiburg. The project itself is a pilot not only for German, but also for European medicine on the whole.
How is focused radiotherapy of a malignant prostate lesion performed?
Radiation is delivered by a non-invasive procedure, i.e. through the skin surface, and does not require anesthesia. All preparation is done digitally based on the results of prostate MRI and PET-CT with PSMA.
References
- Constantinos Zamboglou, K. B. Spohn, Sonja Adebahr, Maria Huber, Simon Kirste at all. PSMA-PET/MRI-Based Focal Dose Escalation in Patients with Primary Prostate Cancer Treated with Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (HypoFocal-SBRT): Study Protocol of a Randomized, Multicentric Phase III Trial. Cancers, 2021, volume 13. https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:244441072
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