Stereotactic body radiation therapy for prostate cancer—a review

Prostate cancer can be managed with external beam radiation therapy, delivered with either protons or photons, brachytherapy, surgery, or active surveillance. Advances in imaging and radiation therapy delivery have allowed treatment of prostate cancer using ultra-hypofractionated radiation therapy with a high dose per fraction using a technique called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). While no randomized trials have compared the efficacy of SBRT to conventionally fractionated radiation therapy (CFRT), numerous prospective trials and retrospective reviews have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of SBRT for localized prostate cancer, used either definitively or as a boost along with CFRT. Prostate cancer SBRT may be more cost effective than CFRT using intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or proton based radiation therapy.