Pelvic Radiotherapy Provides Long-Term Palliation in Patients With Bladder and Prostate Cancer

Palliative pelvic radiotherapy for metastatic bladder or prostate cancer was recently evaluated in a study and shows good long-term relief from pain, obstruction, and hemorrhage with an acceptable toxicity profile. At current, there exist no standard delivery regimens for palliative pelvic radiotherapy in such patients. Common delivery ranges and fractions are presently employed for bladder and prostate cancers, respectively, but optimal dosage and fractionation schedules have yet to be determined. Eventually establishing them will require further investigation. Nonetheless, pelvic radiotherapy shows potential to provide better long-term palliation when compared to the systemic and/or local therapies utilized in current practice.

Reference:

1. Bottke D, Bolenz C, Ott S, Cebulla A, Wiegel T. [When should the primary tumor of metastatic bladder or prostate cancer be treated using a nonsurgical regimen?] Urologe A. 2017 Mar 27. doi: 10.1007/s00120-017-0356-x. [Epub ahead of print] German. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28349190

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