A new clinical study has demonstrated the use of Calypso real-time tracking during high-dose external beam radiation for prostate cancer resulted in a significant reduction in serious treatment-related side effects. Entitled “Assessing the Impact of Margin Reduction (AIM),” the study’s findings were recently published in the physician-reviewed journal, Urology (The GOLD JOURNAL).

Choosing Calypso as the Latest Prostate Cancer Treatment Option

Dr. Constantine Mantz, radiation oncologist at 21st Century Oncology in Cape Coral, FL, and lead investigator of the study, explains the significance of the findings:

“When prostate cancer patients evaluate treatment options, their objective is to select the therapeutic approach that will cure the cancer while allowing them to remain as fully functional as possible. The Calypso® System, which enables physicians to deliver increased doses of radiation directly to the tumor, while sparing the surrounding healthy organs from exposure, is fundamental to our overall approach of treating prostate cancer.”

Reduced Side Effects. Improved Quality of Life.

Researchers compared the results of the AIM study patients to a set of patients in a published study in the New England Journal of Medicine. In both groups, the patients rated their quality-of-life before and after the completion of their prostate radiation therapy. The result? The AIM patients experienced significantly fewer prostate radiation side effects in the following areas:  bowel urgency and frequency, fecal incontinence and urinary irritation. Also, AIM patients not receiving hormonal therapy experienced slightly fewer sexual side effects.

Calypso Real-Time Tracking. Reduced Side Effects.

Comparison of AIM Study (Calypso Patients) vs. Patients in the New England Journal of Medicine Study (1)

For more information, view the AIM clinical study video.

1. Sandler H., et al. “Reduction in Patient-reported Acute Morbidity in Prostate Cancer Patients Treated With 81-Gy Intensity-modulated Radiotherapy Using Reduced Planning Target Volume Margins and Electromagnetic Tracking: Assessing the Impact of Margin Reduction Study.” Urology 75 no. 5, (2010): 1004-1008.