Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy Shows Promise in Prostate Cancer Treatment
Researchers of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas is using a new procedure, called stereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT to treat prostate cancer in five, 30-minute sessions.
Study leader Dr. Robert Timmerman sais that this rocedure used for treating localized tumors by delivering very high doses of focused radiation.
“There are a number of good treatments for prostate cancer, but they all have some drawbacks — they’re inconvenient; they’re invasive; or they cause impotence, rectal injury or urinary incontinence,” Timmerman said in a statement.
Timmerman has treated 11 patients in Dallas using the new method with only minor side effects.
“This new treatment mimics the dose deposition of brachytherapy — implanted radioactive seeds — but it is done non-invasively, in an outpatient setting, without making any incisions, needle punctures or anesthesia — the beauty of it is that the patient only has to come in for five outpatient treatments and is finished in a week and a half.”
