New Cancer Treatment Guidelines

ASTRO Meeting Features New Prostate Trial Results and Bladder Guidelines

Research presented around the 2026 ASTRO meeting covered efforts to tailor radiation treatment and included new prostate-cancer trial results and ASTRO’s first bladder-cancer radiation guidelines. In a phase III trial, 25 sessions of postoperative prostate radiation produced five-year patient-reported quality-of-life and cancer-control outcomes similar to a 37-session course, but caused more severe physician-reported urinary side effects, including cystitis and blood in the urine. The bladder guidelines address bladder-preserving chemoradiation and other settings; radiation for recurrent high-grade non-muscle-invasive disease is a conditional option for select patients who lack or decline alternatives. MD Anderson researchers also reported that healthy-brain exposure varied substantially across more than 800 stereotactic radiosurgery plans from over 650 institutions, with planning choices—especially how tightly radiation was shaped around the target—accounting for more variation than equipment on standard linear accelerators, and highlighted a genomic reanalysis of a major prostate-cancer radiotherapy trial. Mayo Clinic presentations covered stereotactic radiation and metastasis-directed treatment for metastatic Ewing sarcoma, as well as AI to personalize radiation planning and care; Sylvester researchers presented work on functional radiation treatments, biomarkers, imaging, AI and precision oncology.

Key Points

Topics