Radiation therapy or radiotherapy now can be used, safely to treat prostrate cancer in men suffering from AIDS, without any long-term adverse effect on CD4+ cell count or in the severity of viral infection. A small study suggested.

While treating patient of prostrate cancer with radiotherapy, it’s out of question to put HIV-infected patients on different machine than their HIV-negative counterpart, lead researcher Dr. Anthony M. Berson, from St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York, and colleagues said.

The study was published in the November issue of Urology. In the study 14 HIV-infected patients with prostate cancer were included which have undergone the treatment with external beam radiotherapy or brachytherapy or both. PSA level, CD4+ cell count, and intensity of viral infection were evaluated at baseline and again at latest follow-up, which ranged from 8 to 73 months.

In the follow-up, out of 14, only one patient showed a little rise in PSA level that was still above 1.1 ng/ml, the report indicates.

The average CD4+ cell count showed minor elevation during the follow-up from 523 to 577 cells/microliter. The lowest value noticed was 200 cells/microliter, the investigators analyze. Only two HIV-infected patients experienced an increase in viral load.

Radiotherapy has not been linked with any unusual urinary, rectal, or sexual diseases, and no infections were seen in the study group also, Dr. Berson’s team states.

There is a need of much larger study to definitively evaluate morbidity and mortality for patients suffering from AIDS and lately treated for prostate cancer.