5 treatments verses long course of radiation treament

ron3637
ron3637 Member Posts: 14 Member
edited July 17 in Prostate Cancer #1

Hi
My oncologist recommended a 5 session course of treatment rather than the extended version. Any comments re the pros and cons thanks

Comments

  • Clevelandguy
    Clevelandguy Member Posts: 1,148 Member
    #2

    Hi,

    That sounds about right, you can ask your oncologist why not do the extended version or get a second opinion from a different oncologist/hospital network to see what they say.

    Dave 3+4

  • Old Salt
    Old Salt Member Posts: 1,467 Member
    #3

    SBRT?

    Usually five sessions, although there is research showing that even shorter courses have been tried.

  • centralPA
    centralPA Member Posts: 321 Member
    #4

    The 5 sessions of radiation (SBRT) give you the same amount of radiation as the extended version, but in bigger doses per visit. The key to SBRT is accuracy in the beam, as errors don’t average out like they do for 20-40 smaller doses. Modern tools give us that accuracy.

  • Marlon
    Marlon Member Posts: 85 Member
    edited July 17 #5

    So are the side-effects the same or less? Is hormone therapy included?

  • Josephg
    Josephg Member Posts: 443 Member
    #6

    I had 3 sessions of SBRT for a metastasized tumor in my pubic bone. It was a nothing Burger, with no side effects. I've also had 38 sessions of IMRT, and there are a number of side effects from that from of radiation.

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