{
  "id": 12938686,
  "title": "ASTRO: Low-dose radiotherapy shows potential in early knee osteoarthritis",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/astro-low-dose-radiotherapy-shows-potential-in-early-knee",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-08T19:40:14.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-astro-dose-radiotherapy-potential-early.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Low-dose radiotherapy (LDRT) may provide significant benefits for early knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients, according to a study presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology meeting in Boston. The study, led by Maria Makarova from Northern State Medical University, Russia, involved 292 patients with Kellgren–Lawrence (KL) grade 0 to 2 knee OA. These patients were randomly assigned to receive either symptomatic slow-acting drugs (SYSADOA) or SYSADOA plus LDRT (4.5 Gy in 10 fractions).\n\nResearchers found that LDRT resulted in greater and more durable improvements in pain, physical function, and quality of life compared to SYSADOA alone. Additionally, LDRT was associated with significantly less structural progression on magnetic resonance imaging, including reduced Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score and lower cartilage deterioration and bone marrow edema progression. The study also revealed that LDRT reduced disability during long-term follow-up and decreased the need for total knee arthroplasty (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.33 for disability and 0.51 for surgery).\n\nThe most notable benefit was observed in patients with baseline KL2 disease, which showed reductions in both disability and total knee arthroplasty needs (HR 0.37 and HR 0.32, respectively). Co-author Bobby Koneru from Loyola University in Illinois emphasized that these findings suggest an opportunity to explore whether treating inflammation earlier could alter the course of the disease. Several authors disclosed ties to the biotechnology, medical technology, and medical device industries.",
  "summary": "Low-dose radiotherapy (LDRT) offers multiple benefits in early knee osteoarthritis (OA), according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology, held from Sept. 26 to 30 in Boston.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}