A recent study conducted by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, presented at The European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) annual congress, has shown promising results for men with advanced prostate cancer. The study suggests that combining radiotherapy and hormone therapy could help thousands of patients avoid grueling chemotherapy treatments.

The key finding from the trial is that targeting the radiotherapy to the specific areas where the cancer has spread can significantly delay further progression of the disease. This delay reduces the need for subsequent treatments such as chemotherapy, which often have a significant impact on a person's quality of life.

The trial involved patients with hormone-resistant oligoprogressive prostate cancer, which occurs when cells from the original tumor travel to fewer than three sites in the body, forming new tumors or lesions. The patients had previously been receiving hormone therapy but were no longer responding to it.

Results from the trial showed that the average time without disease progression for the patients was six months. In fact, two-fifths (40.1 percent) of the patients remained progression-free even after 12 months. This indicates that the combination therapy of radiotherapy and hormone treatment effectively halted the cancer's progression.

The study involved giving the patients stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) along with a type of hormone therapy called androgen receptor targeted agents. SBRT is a painless treatment that takes approximately 20-30 minutes per session. The patients received five to six SBRT treatments, targeting areas such as the bones, lungs, lymph nodes, and prostate.

While 65 percent of the patients experienced disease progression at an average of 19.2 months, 40 percent of the men had no evidence of cancer growth after 12 months of treatment. The findings suggest that targeting specific areas of cancer with radiotherapy can allow the rest of the cancer to respond to hormone therapy, defying the notion that resistance always indicates complete treatment failure.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with over 52,000 new cases diagnosed annually in the UK alone. It is responsible for the deaths of around 11,800 men every year, making it the third deadliest cancer in the country after lung and bowel cancer.

The importance of this study lies in providing an alternative treatment option that offers a delay in disease progression, potentially avoiding the need for chemotherapy in a significant number of cases. Researchers estimate that between 2,000 to 3,000 men per year could benefit from this combination therapy.

Further research and larger-scale trials will be necessary to validate these findings and establish this approach as a standard treatment option. However, the study provides hope for men with advanced prostate cancer who could avoid the burdensome side effects of chemotherapy through the use of radiotherapy and hormone therapy in a targeted manner.

Anyone with concerns or questions about prostate cancer can contact Prostate Cancer UK's specialist nurses at 0800 074 8383 or visit prostatecanceruk.org for more information and support.