Relapse-Free Survival Rate at 5 years Was 93 Percent
Alan J. Katz, M.D., Radiation Oncologist, Good Samaritan Hospital and Flushing Radiation Oncology in Queens, NY
ASTRO’s Annual Meeting is the premier scientific meeting in radiation oncology and is expected to attract more than 11,000 attendees including oncologists from all disciplines, medical physicists, dosimetrists, radiation therapists, radiation oncology nurses and nurse practitioners, biologists, physician assistants, practice administrators, industry representatives and other health care professionals from around the world.
The theme of the 2012 meeting is “Advancing Patient Care Through Innovation” and will examine how innovation in technology and patient care delivery can lead to improved patient outcomes. The four-day scientific meeting will include six plenary papers, 408 oral presentations, 1,724 posters, and 130 digital posters in 63 tracks/topic areas.
As part of this year’s conference, Alan J. Katz, M.D., radiation oncologist with Good Samaritan Hospital and Flushing Radiation Oncology in Queens, NY and colleagues are presenting the study of a large number of localized prostate cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and their relapse-free survival over five years. The outcome data from 1,101 patients with localized adenocarcinoma of the prostate were pooled from eight institutions. Patients were treated between 2003 and 2011.
For all patients, the biochemical relapse-free actuarial survival (bRFS) rate at 5 years was 93%. With a large cohort of patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy, with a reasonably long follow up period, excellent efficacy was demonstrated at 5 years. For high risk cases, the results are preliminary, given the small number of cases treated. However, for low and intermediate risk cases, these results compare favorably with other modalities. These results support a low alpha beta ratio for prostate cancer.