The phase III HYPO-RT-PC trial has shown that a 2-week course of radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer—also known as ultra-hypofractionated radiotherapy—may be just as safe and effective as the traditional 8-week schedule—even 10 years after treatment. The findings were presented at the 2025 European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) Annual Meeting.1
The study, led by researchers in Sweden, found that delivering precision radiotherapy over just 2.5 weeks is equally successful in treating prostate cancer as the standard 8-week approach. A decade after treatment, both options produced similar disease control rates and survival.
“These long-term findings confirm previous 5-year results from the trial, showing that delivering fewer, higher doses over a shorter period works just as well as the standard approach—not just in theory, but in real-world clinical practice,” said Associate Professors Per Nilsson, MD, PhD, senior radiation physicist, and Adalsteinn Gunnlaugsson, MD, radiation oncologist, of Skåne University Hospital and Lund University, Sweden, respectively, who led the 10-year outcome analysis of the HYPO-RT-PC trial.
This large phase III clinical trial enrolled 1,200 men with intermediate- to high-risk localized prostate cancer. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either short-course radiotherapy consisting of 42.7 Gy delivered in 7 sessions over 2.5 weeks or standard-course radiotherapy consisting of 78.0 Gy delivered in 39 sessions over 8 weeks. Researchers assessed survival, cancer recurrence, and treatment-related side effects, including urinary and bowel symptoms.
After 10 years, researchers reported the following findings:
- Failure-free survival: 72% in the short-course group vs 65% in the standard group
- Overall survival: 81% in the short-course vs 79% in the standard group
- Prostate cancer–specific mortality: 4% in both groups
- Side effects: Urinary and bowel symptoms were similar in both groups, and most were mild to moderate.
“These findings confirm that the shorter course does not increase long-term side effects and provides equally durable cancer control,” added Camilla Thellenberg-Karlsson, MD, PhD, of Umeå University, who presented the results at the ESTRO meeting.
DISCLOSURE: For full disclosures of study authors, visit ESTRO.org.
REFERENCE
1. Gunnlaugsson A, Nilsson P, Thellenberg-Karlsson C, et al: Ultra-hypofractionated radiotherapy for localised prostate cancer: 10-Year outcomes of the HYPO-RT-PC phase 3 trial (ISRCTN45905321). 2025 ESTRO Annual Meeting. Presentation Number E25-4981. Presented May 3, 2025.
