Radiotherapy could improve outcomes for men with advanced prostate cancer

Treating the prostate with radiotherapy alongside standard treatment led to an 11 per cent increase in survival for some men with advanced prostate cancer, a study at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL has found. The findings ,  published in The Lancet , come from from one of the largest ever clinical trials for the disease. Previously, it was unclear if there was any benefit treating the prostate directly with radiotherapy, if the cancer had already spread. This research helps answer that question and has implications beyond prostate cancer. Part of the Cancer Research UK-funded STAMPEDE trial, researchers believe these findings could be practice changing and suggest radiotherapy, alongside hormone therapy, should become the standard of care for a group of men with advanced prostate cancer, which affects thousands every year in the UK. This part of the STAMPEDE study involved around 2,000 men who had advanced disease. Half were given standard treatment while the other half received standard treatment and radiotherapy to the prostate - the site of the primary tumour.