Cancer Research Lab

New research suggests that the use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for 2 months before and during external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) can help slow the growth of locally advanced prostate cancer. Moreover, this short course of ADT does not increase the risk of fatal cardiac events.

“This study demonstrates that the benefits of short-term hormonal therapy for men receiving radiation therapy for prostate cancer far outweigh the risks,” lead author Dr. Mack Roach, from the University of California at San Francisco, said in a statement.

As reported in the January 2nd online issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the researchers assessed the outcomes of 456 patients who were randomized to receive EBRT alone or in combination with ADT. The ADT included goserelin 3.6 mg every 4 weeks and flutamide 250 mg three times daily for 2 months before and during EBRT.

Overall survival at 10 years was 43% with the combination regimen and 34% with EBRT alone. The corresponding median survival times were 8.7 and 7.3 years. Still, the authors point out that none of these differences reached statistical significance.

The combination therapy did, however, significantly improve 10-year disease-specific mortality (23% vs. 36%), the distant metastasis rate (35% vs. 47%), disease-free survival (11% vs. 3%), and biochemical failure (65% vs. 80%) (p < 0.05 for all).

Furthermore, adding ADT to EBRT did not increase the risk of fatal cardiac events, the findings indicate.

“While four months of hormonal therapy isn’t enough to cause significant side effects, we found that it can delay the development of bone metastasis by as many as eight years, which is very significant,” Dr. Roach stated.