[When is a nonsurgical approach possible for metastatic primary tumors and lymph node metastases of the urinary bladder and prostate?]

For metastatic carcinomas of the urinary bladder and prostate, systemic therapy is of primary importance. Due to technological advances in radiation oncology such as stereotactic radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiotherapy, interstitial radiotherapy, and the combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, pelvic irradiation can nowadays be carried out effectively and without the risk of major side effects. New data from other tumor entities and retrospective analyses suggest that the use of these technologies can lead to a clinical benefit in terms of improvement in quality of life, local control, and overall survival. For the time being, the decision to administer radiotherapy to the pelvic region should be made on an individual basis. Retrospective analyses of data from prostate carcinomas in particular are currently being planned. This review article introduces potential indications which are supported with real patient examples and discusses future developments giving an overview of the literature and referring to data from prospective randomized trials.