Clinical Research Directory

Daily Adaptive Post-Prostatectomy With Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy in Patients With Prostate Cancer

This clinical trial evaluates the feasibility, safety, and tolerability of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) using daily adaptive radiation techniques to the prostate fossa and/or pelvic lymph nodes in patients with prostate cancer who have undergone surgical removal of the prostate (radical prostatectomy). For patients with prostate cancer who develop a rising prostate specific antigen (PSA) after radical prostatectomy, salvage radiation therapy is the standard of care treatment. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. All patients receiving salvage radiation following radical prostatectomy typically have treatment directed to the prostate fossa, which is the anatomical region around the operative bed that is at highest risk for containing left over tumor. Many patients receiving salvage radiation therapy can also benefit from treatment of the pelvic lymph nodes. Adaptive radiotherapy is an emerging treatment technique that uses daily imaging to adjust treatment volumes, ensure accurate dose delivery, and allow the use of smaller planning target volume margins. Adaptive radiation is ideally suited for the further implementation of SABR treatment regimens directed to the prostate fossa with or without inclusion of the pelvic lymph nodes. While daily adaptive radiation therapy has been reported in other disease settings, there is currently no data about its use for post-prostatectomy radiation. Using daily adaptive radiation techniques may help researchers learn how to minimize exposure to normal tissue and shorten the number of required treatments to better target the radiation dose in prostate cancer patients post-prostatectomy.