Five-fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) was found to be noninferior to conventionally or moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy in treating localized prostate cancer, with a 5-year freedom from biochemical or clinical failure rate of 95.8% vs 94.6%. A downside to SBRT was that it was associated with a higher incidence of late genitourinary toxic effects.

The findings "show that five-fraction SBRT is a robust and viable alternative to moderately fractionated radiotherapy for prostate cancer, offering equivalent efficacy with enhanced convenience for patients. The high 5-year incidence of biochemical control and the acceptable side-effect profile, coupled with the considerable advancements in radiotherapy delivery, underscore the potential of the use of SBRT in prostate cancer treatment," the authors of the study wrote.

This study was led by Nicholas van As, MD, The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, England. It was published online on October 16 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The study's limitations included the exclusion of patients with high-risk prostate cancer and that androgen-deprivation therapy was not permitted, which may have limited the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, the open-label design could have introduced bias in the reporting of outcomes.

The study was supported by funding from Accuray to The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust for trial management, international study coordination, and data analysis. Additional disclosures are noted in the original article.