The Precision of Stereotactic Body Radiation
Therapy (SBRT), an Advanced Treatment Technique, Enables
Treatment in Five Days, Significantly Reducing the Time Men Must
Spend Undergoing Care
MADISON,
Wis., Oct. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Accuray
Incorporated (NASDAQ: ARAY) announced today that results of
the PACE-B – Prostate Advances in Comparative Evidence – trial were
published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The
research builds on previously reported data and shows that at five
years, stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) provides
comparable rates of cancer control, tolerability and sexual
functioning to conventional radiotherapy (CRT), while reducing the
overall treatment timeframe from up to 39 days of treatment to just
five days. The Accuray CyberKnife® System was used
in the SBRT treated arm of the PACE-B study and showed excellent
disease control with low rates of toxicity for men with prostate
cancer.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in
men, with almost 1.5 million new cases identified worldwide in
20221. While it is typically a slow-growing and
manageable disease, it's important that men have access to
treatment options, such as SBRT delivered using the CyberKnife
System, that can not only manage the cancer but also enable them to
get back to a healthy, full life, faster.
SBRT uses advanced techniques to deliver ultra-hypofractionated
radiation therapy – very high doses of radiation are given over a
few days – necessitating an extremely high degree of targeting
accuracy and precision. The PACE-B trial enrolled men with low- or
intermediate-risk prostate cancer who received SBRT in either
five sessions or CRT in 20 or 39 sessions.
Chief Investigator Professor Nicholas van As, Medical Director
and Consultant Clinical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS
Foundation Trust, and Professor in Precision Prostate Radiotherapy
at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said:
"At The Royal Marsden and the ICR, we are focused on developing
smarter, better and kinder treatments for patients across the UK
and internationally. Standard radiation treatment is already highly
effective and is very well tolerated in people with localized
prostate cancer but for a healthcare system and for patients, to
have this treatment delivered just as effectively in five days as
opposed to four weeks is hugely significant.
"To be able to sit with a patient and say, 'We can treat you
with a low toxicity treatment in five days, and your chance of
keeping the cancer at bay for five years is 96 percent,' is a very
positive conversation to have. We expect our trial to be practice
changing and people with intermediate risk prostate cancer should
be given the option of SBRT as an alternative to conventional
radiation or prostate surgery."
SBRT: Comparable Results to Conventional Radiotherapy in 75
Percent Less Time
Both groups attained high rates of cancer control at five years,
with similar rates of 94.6 percent for CRT and 95.8 percent for
SBRT achieved without the use of androgen deprivation therapy
(ADT), also known as "hormone therapy." SBRT was well-tolerated and
treatment-related impairment (such as urinary, bowel and sexual
function) and bother were comparable to CRT. "Bother" refers to the
annoyance that patients experience because of a decline in their
ability to perform certain functions. At five years, 29.1 percent
of men treated with CRT and 26.4 percent of men receiving SBRT
reported erectile dysfunction, while participants in both groups
stated they had stable urinary and bowel symptoms at this time
point.
"As a radiation oncologist who has had the privilege of treating
numerous men with prostate cancer, I am grateful that the medical
community continues to invest resources into refining our approach
to this common diagnosis. The results of the PACE-B trial are
published in one of the premier medical journals and are a
game-changer. They provide the most compelling level of data to
date in support of prostate SBRT for early-stage disease, and
directly inform the standard of care. This trial empowers men who
require or prefer radiation treatment to utilize SBRT, a technique
that not only offers highly effective cancer therapy, but also
significantly reduces the disruption to their lives compared to
traditional schedules. This trial represents a crucial step forward
in improving medical care and enhancing the quality of life for men
diagnosed with prostate cancer," said Seth Blacksburg, M.D., MBA,
Chief Medical Officer at Accuray.
Continued Dr. Blacksburg, "The CyberKnife® System is
supported by more than 30 years of global clinical data, including
the results from the PACE-B trial. The system equips medical care
teams to treat prostate cancer with tremendous confidence, assuring
them of a tool that consistently delivers extremely accurate
treatments. This reliability not only enhances the likelihood of
successful outcomes but also minimizes potential side effects,
providing an optimal approach to curing this common medical
condition."
The prostate gland can move unpredictably and rapidly throughout
the treatment, sometimes moving as much as 10 mm in as little as 30
seconds due to normal patient bodily functions2,3,4,5.
The ability to track, detect and correct for this motion is key to
ensuring the radiation is delivered to the tumor.
Throughout the course of treatment, the CyberKnife System
continually collects images to determine exactly where the tumor
is, helping to ensure that clinicians deliver radiation exactly
where they want it. The system detects the tumor motion and
automatically adjusts the radiation beam in real time to match the
motion of the tumor, giving clinicians confidence to apply smaller
treatment margins and enabling higher doses and fewer treatments.
The CyberKnife System is the only radiotherapy device that can
track and automatically correct for prostate motion and maintain
sub-millimeter accuracy throughout treatment delivery.
About the PACE-B Trial
The PACE trial data provides level 1 clinical evidence – the
strongest level of evidence on which to guide practice changes.
PACE-B is a prospective, randomized trial conducted in 35 centers
in the UK, Canada and Ireland, comparing five-fraction SBRT to
conventionally fractionated or moderately hypofractionated external
beam radiotherapy (CFMHRT) for localized prostate cancer. The
PACE-B trial is funded by Accuray, sponsored by The Royal Marsden
and coordinated by the Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit at The
Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR-CTSU). Of the 874 patients
enrolled, data up to five years on 874 patients treated with
radiotherapy were analyzed; 433 receiving SBRT and 441 standard
radiotherapy. Forty-one percent of men treated with SBRT in the
study received treatment using the CyberKnife platform.
About Accuray
Accuray is committed to expanding the powerful potential of
radiation therapy to improve as many lives as possible. We invent
unique, market-changing solutions designed to deliver radiation
treatments for even the most complex cases—while making commonly
treatable cases even easier—to meet the full spectrum of patient
needs. We are dedicated to continuous innovation in radiation
therapy for oncology, neuro-radiosurgery, and beyond, as we partner
with clinicians and administrators, empowering them to help
patients get back to their lives, faster. Accuray is headquartered
in Madison, Wisconsin, with
facilities worldwide. To learn more, visit www.accuray.com or
follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.
Media Contact
Beth Kaplan
Public Relations Director, Accuray
+1 (408)
789-4426
bkaplan@accuray.com
1 World Cancer Research Fund
International. https://www.wcrf.org/cancer-trends/prostate-cancer-statistics/
2 Drexler and Furweger. "Quality assurance of a robotic,
image guided radiosurgery system." WC 2009, IFMBE Proceedings 25/I,
492-495, 2009.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-03474-9_138
3 Kilby W, Dooley JR, Kuduvalli G, Sayeh S, Maurer CR.
The CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System in 2010.
Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment. 2010;9(5):433-452.
doi:10.1177/153303461000900502.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20815415/
4 Yu C, Main W, Taylor D, Kuduvalli G, Apuzzo ML, Adler
JR Jr. An anthropomorphic phantom study of the accuracy of
Cyberknife spinal radiosurgery. Neurosurgery. 2004
Nov;55(5):1138-49. doi: 10.1227/01.neu.0000141080.54647.11. PMID:
15509320. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15509320/
5 Antypas C, Pantelis E. Performance evaluation of a
CyberKnife G4 image-guided robotic stereotactic radiosurgery
system. Phys Med Biol. 2008 Sep
7;53(17):4697-718. doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/53/17/016. Epub
2008 Aug 11. PMID: 18695294.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18695294/
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