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Friday, 2nd November 2007 (4556 views)

Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Cancer Institute have used gold pellets in a highly-targeted radiation therapy method as a treatment for prostate cancer.

The precision of the treatment – which uses the gold pellets as markers that allow for a highly-focused area of tumour treatment – means that patients undergoing the procedure will likely not suffer from long-term rectal damage, which is presently one of the main side effects of prostate cancer treatment.

Previously, between ten and 50 per cent of men undergoing radiation treatment for prostate cancer expressed complaints of rectal pain, but Dr Todd Scarbrough, an associate professor of radiation medicine at OHSU and the principal investigator on the study, said that around 98 per cent of some 231 study participants displayed no signs of rectal damage after treatment.

"If these outcomes hold over time … a patient could cruise through treatment with no side effects," he said.

Some 72 per cent of men reported that they were able to maintain sexual activity following treatment.

All of the participants in the survey, who had an average age of 74, have been tracked for 1.4 years following treatment with radiation therapy.

 

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