IMRT, 3D-CRT confer similar patient-reported outcomes in prostate cancer

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy was not associated with improved patient-reported bowel, bladder and sexual function outcomes compared with 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy given in similar doses for prostate cancer, according to study results.“There is evidence suggesting that [intensity-modulated radiation therapy] may achieve higher [radiation therapy] doses with no increase or even with a lower dose to normal critical structures, such as bowel and bladder, compared with [3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy],” Deborah W. Bruner, RN, PhD, of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, and colleagues wrote. “However, the cost of [intensity-modulated radiation therapy] may be more than twice that of [3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy] because of increased treatment planning.”