Light therapy 'a huge leap forward' for early prostate cancer treatment

The results of a phase III clinical trial suggest that light therapy may be an effective, nonsurgical therapy for men with low-risk prostate cancer, after finding that almost half of study participants with the disease went into complete remission after treatment with the novel procedure.

In a study of more than 400 men with localized prostate cancer, researchers reveal that the new treatment - called vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy (VTP) - can kill prostate cancer cells, without damaging the healthy surrounding tissue.

Furthermore, VTP was found to significantly reduce the need for radical therapy, such as the removal or irradiation of the entire prostate.

Lead investigator Prof. Mark Emberton, dean of medical sciences and a consultant urologist at University College London in the United Kingdom, and colleagues recently reported their findings in The Lancet Oncology.

After skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United States, with around 180,890 new cases expected to have been diagnosed in 2016.

For men with localized prostate cancer - cancer that is considered low risk and has not spread beyond the prostate - "active surveillance" is often the first port of call. This is where the cancer is closely monitored through prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests, digital rectal exams, or prostate biopsies, and it is only treated if it becomes more severe.

If the cancer does worsen, treatment may involve radical prostatectomy - which is the surgical removal of the prostate and nearby tissues - or radiation therapy. These procedures can pose a number of side effects, including bowel issues, urinary incontinence, and lifelong erectile dysfunction.

However, Prof. Emberton and colleagues suggest that VTP could reduce the need for such treatments by combatting prostate cancer in its early stages.

At the end of the 2-year follow-up, the researchers found that 49 percent of patients treated with VTP had entered complete remission, compared with only 13.5 percent of patients who received active surveillance.