Effect of patient variation on standard- and hypo-fractionated radiotherapy of prostate cancer

Abstract

Recent publications suggested that the α/β ratio could be as low as 1.5 for prostate cancer, indicating that prostate cancer control might be more sensitive to changes in the dose fractionation scheme. This also suggests that the standard fractionation scheme based on large α/β ratios may not be optimal for the radiotherapeutic management of prostate cancer. Hypo-fractionated radiotherapy for prostate cancer has received more attention recently as an alternative treatment strategy, which may lead to reduced treatment time and cost.