Thousands of men in England who have prostate cancer will be offered high-powered precision radiotherapy that will slash the number of treatment sessions they need from 20 to just five.<\/p>\n
Senior doctors said the technique \u2013 called SABR (stereotactic ablative radiotherapy) – would target the disease more effectively than standard radiotherapy and help reduce side-effects.<\/p>\n
The treatment is already offered to some patients with other types of cancer, including lung and brain.<\/p>\n
This is the first time it will be offered to low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients outside of trials.<\/p>\n
Of the 55,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, around 17,500 are deemed low or intermediate risk.<\/p>\n
Modelling suggests a fifth of those – around 3,500 – are likely to take up the option of this form of radiotherapy.<\/p>\n
That is largely because some with low-risk prostate cancer opt instead for active monitoring, rather than immediate treatment, since these cancers are very slow growing and may not cause harm.<\/p>\n
NHS England said it expected all 48 radiotherapy centres around the country to start offering the treatment \u00ab\u00a0within weeks\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
National clinical director for cancer Prof Peter Johnson said while the move would not benefit all prostate cancer patients, it was an important step.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0This technology lets us focus a powerful and precise beam of radiotherapy directly on to the cancer, limiting the damage to healthy cells,\u00a0\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0And the fact it can be delivered in 15 fewer doses will help men get back to living their lives far more quickly.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Amy Rylance, of Prostate Cancer UK, said: \u00ab\u00a0It’s wonderful news that thousands of men in England will now have access to this revolutionary targeted radiotherapy.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It will massively reducing the burden that cancer places on them, and their loved ones.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
The charity is hopeful in the future the treatment will become available to even more prostate cancer patients.<\/p>\n
Trials are already under way to see if the precision radiotherapy can be used on high-risk prostate cancer patients.<\/p>\n
Edwin Lambert, 70, from Suffolk, is in one of the trials.<\/p>\n
He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January 2025 and began hormone therapy. He experienced side effects, including loss of libido, hot flushes, mood swings and fatigue.<\/p>\n
He then had the new type of radiotherapy, targeting his prostate and surrounding lymph nodes, which he said was \u00ab\u00a0easier to deal with\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
He said while he was treated in hospital he saw men undergoing the traditional radiotherapy who looked \u00ab\u00a0dreadful\u00a0\u00bb in comparison because of the repeated bouts of treatment.<\/p>\n
He said he experienced a more frequent need to urinate during and shortly after the precision radiotherapy, but within five weeks was taking part in an archaeological dig he had long been planning.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0This treatment was an absolute godsend,\u00a0\u00bb he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thousands of men in England who have prostate cancer will be offered high-powered precision radiotherapy that will slash the number of treatment sessions they need from 20 to just five. Senior doctors said the technique \u2013 called SABR (stereotactic ablative radiotherapy) – would target the disease more effectively than standard radiotherapy and help reduce side-effects. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10213","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}