Dr. Mouw on the Role of Radiation Therapy in Prostate Cancer

Kent W. Mouw, MD, PhD, co-director, Bladder Cancer Center, assistant professor, Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the role of radiation therapy in prostate cancer.

Although radiation oncologists are comfortable using radiation to treat the prostate gland, there are adverse events associated with that approach, explains Mouw. Patient selection is very important in order to avoid overtreatment. The main challenge in this space is identifying the patients with metastatic disease who are the most likely to benefit from the therapy.

In terms of toxicity, data from randomized trials indicate that radiation is generally well tolerated. Given its tolerability, there is a huge opportunity for the use of this approach to improve the outcomes of patients, adds Mouw. Based on trial data, radiation oncologists are currently limiting its use to patients with low volume disease, often defined as fewer sites of metastatic disease and therein a lower tumor burden. These patients are thought to derive the greatest benefit from radiation therapy, concludes Mouw.