Stereotactic MRI-guided Radiation Therapy for Localized prostatE Cancer

As the most common carcinoma in men, prostate cancer is a significant tumor entity in oncology. In addition to the surgical approach, definitive radiotherapy is an equivalent therapy alternative in the non-metastatic primary situation. However, radiotherapy usually stretches over a period of several weeks (7 to 8 weeks) during which the patient receives irradiation on a daily basis. For this reason and for radiobiological considerations the total treatment time is increasingly shortened. It has been shown in several randomized phase III studies that shorting radiotherapy to about 4 weeks by increasing the single dose (so-called hypofractionation) is possible. Meanwhile there is also more data on extreme hypofractionation (max. 10 radiation sessions) available, however often times, extensive preparations are necessary (such as the invasive introduction of markers into the prostate). The current, prospective, non-randomized, multicentric, Phase II SMILE study is now testing whether the MRI-guided radiotherapy with a greatly shortened radiotherapy of the prostate over 5 radiation sessions is possible and safe.