For many men with prostate cancer, the word “radiotherapy” still conjures up weeks of daily hospital trips: 20 or more sessions, Monday to Friday, for a month or longer. A new NHS England programme aims to shrink that burden dramatically by offering eligible men a highly focused form of radiotherapy that treats the cancer in just five sessions.
It sounds almost too good to be true: a comparable chance of controlling the disease, with far fewer visits and much less disruption to work and family life. But five-session treatment can still cause short-term and longer-term side-effects.
