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Partially Ablative Body Radiation Therapy Versus Standard Palliative Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Bulky
Christopher Williams1,2, Julie Chu3,4, SuChen Fong3
1Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.
Advances in Radiation Oncology
|June 15, 2026
Summary
Partially ablative body radiation therapy (PABR) improved symptom relief and local control in patients with bulky soft tissue sarcomas compared to standard palliative radiation therapy (SPR). PABR demonstrated better outcomes despite treating larger tumors, offering enhanced palliation for advanced sarcomas.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Radiation Oncology
- Surgical Oncology
Background:
- Locally advanced soft tissue sarcomas can cause significant mass effects and debilitating symptoms.
- Partially ablative body radiation therapy (PABR) has been developed for palliation of these symptoms.
- Clinical outcomes of PABR have not been previously compared to standard palliative radiation therapy (SPR).
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the clinical outcomes of PABR versus SPR for palliation in patients with locally advanced soft tissue sarcomas.
- To evaluate symptomatic and objective structural response rates between PABR and SPR.
- To assess secondary endpoints including overall survival and progression-free survival.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 57 patients with soft tissue sarcomas >5 cm treated with either PABR (30 patients) or SPR (27 patients) between December 2019 and April 2024.
- Primary endpoints included symptomatic and objective structural response rates, analyzed using binomial regression.
- Secondary endpoints included overall survival, freedom from local progression, and freedom from distant progression.
Main Results:
- PABR demonstrated a higher symptomatic improvement rate (90% vs. 70% for SPR) and was associated with significantly higher rates of symptomatic improvement in multivariate analysis (adjusted RR, 1.30; P = .026).
- Objective response rates were higher with PABR (73.3% partial response vs. 48.2% for SPR), with similar mean tumor volume reduction (38% vs. 35%).
- One-year estimated overall survival (57.4% vs. 40.7%), freedom from local progression (69.7% vs. 33.1%), and freedom from distant progression (46.8% vs. 3.7%) favored the PABR group.
Conclusions:
- Partially ablative body radiation therapy (PABR) may offer improved symptom palliation for bulky, unresectable soft tissue sarcomas compared to standard palliative radiation therapy (SPR).
- PABR showed potential for better local control, even when treating significantly larger tumors.
- These findings suggest PABR as a promising alternative for palliative care in advanced soft tissue sarcomas.
