Comparing Clinical Outcomes for Radium-223: Do Older Patients Do Worse?

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the clinical benefits and toxicities of ²²³Ra in 2 different age groups of patients with castrate-resistant prostate cancer.

Methods and materials: This was a retrospective study of patients treated with ²²³Ra in 2 tertiary centers. Patients were divided into 2 different groups based on their age (≥72 years old and <72 years old). Treatment toxicities were graded according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0. Comparison of characteristics and outcome was carried out with the Mann-Whitney test and analysis of overall survival with the log-rank test.

Results: In all, 129 patients were treated during the study period. Clinical benefit was similar in both groups. However, a statistically significant higher proportion of patients in the younger group had previously been treated with docetaxel. There was a higher rate of grade 3 anemia in younger patients.

Conclusions: In line with other studies, ²²³Ra was well tolerated with minimum toxicities. The significantly higher rate of grade 3 anemia in younger patients may be due to more cautious patient selection in the elderly population.