Comparative Effectiveness of Proton Therapy Versus Photon Therapy as Part of Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer

DESCRIPTION
The use of concurrent chemoradiotherapies is a standard curative treatment for many cancers but is associated with substantial morbidity including hospitalizations during treatment. We conducted a study to assess whether proton therapy in the setting of concurrent chemoradiotherpy is associated with fewer 90-day unplanned hospitalizations or other adverse events and similar disease-free and overall survival compared to photon chemoradiotherapy. This was a retrospective non-randomized comparative effectiveness study.

IMPACT
We found that proton chemoradiotherapy was associated a nearly two-thirds reduction in unplanned hospitalizations with similar disease-free and overall survival.

PEOPLE
Brian Bauman, MD; Nandita Mitra, PhD; Peter Gabriel, MD, MSE; Andrzej Wojcieszynski, MD; Peter O’Dwyer, MD; Justin Bekelman, MD; and James Metz, MD.

PARTNERS
Penn Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University in St. Louis Department of Radiation Oncology, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, Penn Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, and Abramson Cancer Center.

FOCUS
Clinical Transformation

PUBLICATION
Comparative Effectiveness of Proton vs Photon Therapy as Part of Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Cancer, JAMA Oncology.