\u201cSBRT has moved from a promising alternative to a standard treatment option for many patients with localized prostate cancer. These recommendations give clinicians clear direction on using shorter-course treatment safely while preserving the excellent outcomes patients expect from definitive radiation therapy,\u201d said lead author Scott C. Morgan, MD, MSc, a radiation oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre and associate professor in the Division of Radiation Oncology at the University of Ottawa in Canada, who chaired the guideline task force, in a news release.2<\/p>\n
The guideline also sets out dose-fractionation regimens:<\/p>\n
Moderate hypofractionation: 6000 to 6200 cGy in 20 fractions, or 7000 cGy in 28 fractions (strong recommendation, high-quality evidence).Ultrahypofractionation: 3625 to 4000 cGy to the prostate in 5 fractions (conditional recommendation, moderate-quality evidence), preferably delivered on nonconsecutive days over approximately 2 weeks (conditional recommendation, low-quality evidence).Fewer than 5 fractions: not recommended outside a clinical trial (strong recommendation).Elective pelvic nodal irradiation: a single-phase plan, with moderate hypofractionation to the prostate and conventional or near-conventional fractionation to the pelvic nodes, is recommended.<\/p>\n
The multidisciplinary task force addressed 5 key questions:<\/p>\n
indications for moderate hypofractionation;indications for ultrahypofractionation;dose-fractionation regimens;target volumes;treatment planning and delivery techniques.<\/p>\n
The task force included radiation and medical oncologists, urologists, a medical physicist, and a patient representative. Recommendations were based on a systematic review conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and approved through a modified Delphi consensus process. The guideline was developed in collaboration with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Urological Association (AUA), the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), and the Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO). It was endorsed by the AUA, ESTRO, SUO, and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.<\/p>\n
The authors added that, because shorter courses can reduce travel, time away from work, and overall treatment burden, ensuring equitable access to hypofractionated radiation remains a priority. Ongoing trials including NRG-GU009 (NCT04513717), NRG-GU010 (NCT05050084), NRG-GU013 (NCT05946213), and PACE-C (NCT01584258) are expected to clarify the role of ultrahypofractionation in higher-risk disease and its use alongside androgen deprivation therapy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past decade, hypofractionation has transitioned from an alternative approach to the dominant form of definitive prostate EBRT in current use. The ability to safely shorten treatment duration while maintaining cancer control and [quality of life] represents a meaningful advance in patient-centered care and treatment delivery,\u201d Morgan and coauthors wrote in the guideline.1<\/p>\n
ReferencesMorgan SC, Halthore A, Jia AY, et al. Hypofractionated radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer: an ASTRO clinical practice guideline. Pract Radiat Oncol. Published online October 27, 2026. doi:10.1016\/j.prro.2026.09.017ASTRO updates guideline on shorter-course radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer. News release. American Society for Radiation Oncology. October 27, 2026. Accessed October 27, 2026. https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/mppm8pt3van As N, Griffin C, Tree A, et al. Phase 3 trial of stereotactic body radiotherapy in localized prostate cancer.\u00a0N Engl J Med. 2024;391(15):1413-1425. doi:10.1056\/NEJMoa2403365Widmark A, Gunnlaugsson A, Beckman L, et al. Ultra-hypofractionated versus conventionally fractionated radiotherapy for prostate cancer: 5-year outcomes of the HYPO-RT-PC randomised, non-inferiority, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2019;394(10196):385-395. doi:10.1016\/S0140-6736(19)31131-6 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSBRT has moved from a promising alternative to a standard treatment option for many patients with localized prostate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137],"class_list":["post-944550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}