Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 29 Prostate cancer patients are not routinely advised to exercise, but a U.S. study found walking prevents bone loss caused from prostate cancer treatment.
Lead author Paula Chiplis of The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore said men with prostate cancer frequently receive radiation therapy to kill the cancer cells followed by months of hormone therapy, which decreases testosterone and estrogen that feed cancer cells.
Men undergoing hormone therapy lose between 4 percent to 13 percent of their bone density annually, compared to healthy men who lose from 0.5 percent to 1 percent per year, beginning in middle age.
The study involved 70 sedentary men with prostate cancer randomly assigned to a nurse-directed, home-based walking program or usual care -- no exercise during radiation treatment, with more than half also receiving hormone therapy.

Just 4 Months Of Hormone Therapy Can Delay Prostate Cancer Growth By ...

ScienceDaily (Jan. 7, 2008) — Researchers report that just four months of hormonal therapy before and with standard external beam radiation therapy slowed cancer growth by as much as eight years--especially the development of bone metastases--and increased survival in older men with potentially aggressive prostate cancer. This "neoadjuvant" hormonal therapy may allow men most at risk of developing bone metastases avoid long-term hormonal therapy later on. Furthermore, the short-term hormonal therapy did not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease--a potential side effect of long-term hormonal therapy.

Hyperthermia Combined with Radiation and Androgen Therapy Provides ...

BSD Medical Corp. (AMEX:BSM) today announced that the International Journal of Hyperthermia has published the preliminary results of a phase II clinical study involving 144 patients with locally advanced prostate cancer. In this study BSD Medical's BSD-2000 hyperthermia system was used to deliver local hyperthermia combined with conformal radiation therapy and androgen suppression therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer. Hyperthermia combined with radiation and androgen therapy demonstrated results in survival similar to treatments using higher radiation doses, with no significant side effects associated with either hyperthermia or radiation therapy.

The report is entitled "Conformal radiotherapy plus local hyperthermia in patients affected by locally advanced high risk prostate cancer: Preliminary results of a prospective phase II study" (see Int.