Radiotherapy Timing Comparison
In the UK, radiotherapy is usually given after surgery only to
those men who have a rising PSA level some time after surgery
(known as deferred radiotherapy).
An alternative approach is to use radiotherapy routinely in all
men shortly after surgery (known as early radiotherapy or adjuvant
radiotherapy). Early radiotherapy might prevent the cancer from
coming back but it might also bring unwanted side-effects.
The Radiotherapy Timing Comparison in RADICALS is comparing
these two approaches. Men are divided at random into two
groups:
- men in one group will receive regular PSA monitoring. If their
PSA starts to rise, even a little bit, radiotherapy would be given
(deferred radiotherapy)
- men in the other group will receive radiotherapy soon after
their operation (early radiotherapy)
This will test whether using radiotherapy routinely soon after
surgery is better than giving it later only to those men who
develop a rising PSA level.
This is the design of the Radiotherapy Timing Comparison:
