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20 August 2008
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Brachytherapy best for overweight or obese prostate cancer patients
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MedWire News: Overweight and obese men with prostate cancer may benefit more from an internal radiation treatment called brachytherapy than from surgery or external radiation treatment, say researchers.
A number of studies have suggested that overweight and obese men are less likely to benefit from prostate removal surgery, called radical prostatectomy, and external radiation treatment than their normal-weight counterparts, explain Dr Jason Efstathiou, from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, USA, and team.
But they add that few studies have compared the effectiveness of prostate cancer brachytherapy, which involves placing radioactive "seeds" inside or near the tumour, between overweight or obese and normal-weight men.
To investigate, the researchers studied data on 374 patients who underwent brachytherapy for early-stage prostate cancer between 1996 and 2001.
In total, 76 men experienced a rise in their levels of prostate-specific antigen - an indicator of prostate cancer recurrence - within 6 years of undergoing treatment.
Analysis revealed that men who were overweight or obese were no more likely to experience a rise in their prostate-specific antigen levels up to 6 years after brachytherapy than their normal-weight counterparts.
Writing in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, Dr Efstathiou and team conclude: "Unlike after surgery or external beam radiation therapy, body mass index is not associated with prostate-specific antigen failure in men treated with brachytherapy for prostate cancer.
"This raises the possibility that brachytherapy may be a preferred treatment strategy in obese patients."
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2008: 71: 1302-1308
http://www.redjournal.org/article/S0360-3016(07)04750-5/abstract
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