2022 Annual Reflection

Clinical Innovation Highlights

A new technology called PSMA might help identify men at risk

Breakthroughs in prostate cancer

Researchers in the Department of Radiation Oncology co-founded an international consortium of randomized trial data pertaining to various treatments for prostate cancer, called the MARCAP (Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials in Cancer of the Prostate) consortium. The team led four large-scale meta-analyses from this consortium, all published in high-tier journals.

The Radiation Oncology department implemented an in-house replacement for “4D” computed tomography (4DCT), called 5DCT, that reduces error caused by irregular breathing, improving radiation oncologists’ ability to accurately interpret scans. 

 

Advanced knowledge of radiation oncology delivery through a randomized trial comparing CT-guided prostate stereotactic body radiotherapy against a leading-edge form of MRI-guided stereotactic body radiotherapy. This is one of only a handful of randomized trials evaluating technological innovations that have ever been performed in radiation oncology, and its successful completion (and positive result) has firmly established UCLA as a leading authority in MRI-guided radiotherapy, particularly with regard to prostate radiation.

Our basic and translational scientists studied the biological implications of two treatments for prostate cancer, accelerated radiation (SBRT) and conventionally fractionated radiation (CFRT), and were able to identify patients with a unique class of genetic biomarkers that puts them at significantly increased risk of toxicity following SBRT. Early results indicate that this information meaningfully impacts both treatment choice as well as overall toxicity, supporting the importance of the biomarker test for prostate cancer treatment choices moving forward.