Beam therapy and long-term hormonal therapy in patients with prostate cancer

The authors describe their experience in treating patients with prostate cancer (PC). The data of 68 patients undergoing beam therapy in combination with long-term hormonal therapy are restrospectively analyzed. The patients mainly present with locally advanced tumors. Radiotherapy was performed with a cumulative focal dose of as high as 70 Gy; hormonal therapy involved orchiectomy or long-term adjuvant therapy with luteinizing hormone releasing-hormone analogues for 36 months. Five-year outcomes were estimated; relapse-free and biochemical progression-free survival rates were 88.9 +/- 4.9 and 89.4 +/- 5.3%, respectively. Early and late radiation damages were also evaluated: the rate of grades 2 and 3 acute radiation-induced urinary tract lesions was 64.3 and 3.6%, respectively; that of grades 1 and 2 gastrointestinal lesions was 26.8 and 7.1%; and that of grade 2 late lesions was not greater than 1.5%.