The goals of palliative radiotherapy are control of local disease and symptoms.
The relative inability of conventional radiotherapy to control localized prostate cancer results from resistance of subpopulations of tumor clonogens to dose levels of 65 to 70 Gy, the maximum feasible with traditional two-dimensional (2D) treatment planning and delivery techniques.
Despite the latest technological advances in radiotherapy, cancer control is still challenging for several tumour sites.
Palliative radiotherapy to control symptoms was permitted although radiated target lesions were no longer to be considered as target lesions.
The aim of this study was to ascertain whether hypoxia-selective cytotoxins could be given as adjuvants to radiotherapy to control metastases.
Switching to another agent may be effective, but patients with resistant adenomas will usually require surgery, with or without radiotherapy, if control of a large lesion is needed.
No outcome measures such as toxicity from radiotherapy, tumour control or survival were reported and no significant changes in biochemical or haematological parameters were found.
Three cycles of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil (CMF) were administered at monthly intervals; patients were then randomized to surgery or radiotherapy to control the primary tumour, and 12 more cycles of CMF followed local/regional therapy.
Most of the studies, however, focus on the overall relapse events, while the impact of molecular variables on the efficacy of postoperative radiotherapy to control local disease remains largely unknown.
