An Australian clinical trial has identified a treatment that can halt the spread of prostate cancer.
The single-dose of precision radiotherapy could change the way advanced cases of the disease are treated.
It may also enable men to avoid or delay lifelong hormone therapy.
Typically, men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and secondary tumours face lifelong hormone therapy with unpleasant side effects.
Radiation Oncologist Shankar Siva told SBS News it’s common to experience libido loss, hot flushes, fatigue, weight gain and bone weakness with these treatments.
But the trial at Melbourne's Peter Mac Cancer Centre has found testosterone-blocking treatments could be avoided.
It looked at 33 patients with secondary tumours who were given a focused dose of radiotherapy.
Each was monitored for two years.
Researchers found almost half, 48 per cent of the patients did not require hormone therapy at two years.
For more than a third of the patients, 39 per cent, the cancer did not progress.
Associate Professor Siva said the results were “exciting” from a medical standpoint.
“So from here, we have some early and exciting results to be able to say that it is safe and it's feasible and that it is effective for the tumour spots that we treated.
“So 93 per cent of the tumours that were treated were controlled with the radiotherapy."
Adelaide man Tony McDonnell participated in the trial.
The 77-year-old had secondary tumours in his spine and hip.
“I had got rid of this cancer without any pain, without any side effects at all. Just brilliant,” Mr McDonnell said.
He said the treatment was straightforward.
“The treatment here just consisted of getting on that machine and them finding out where these cancers were and just zapped me."
The results were considered a great success for Mr McDonnell.
"The third time when I came back another doctor actually had a look at the scans and he asked me where it was because it had disappeared completely,” he said.
Another randomised clinical trial is now underway working with UK researchers.
It aims to find out whether this technique can extend the life of patients with a limited spread of prostate cancer.
The results of the trial will be known within the next decade.
