Skip to main content

Adding Short-Term ADT to Radiotherapy Increases Overall Survival in Localized Prostate Cancer

TOP - Daily

Short-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) for 4 months before and during radiotherapy increases overall survival rates and decreases disease-specific mortality rates in men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, according to an interventional phase 3 study.

 

Men with histologically confirmed, stage T1b, T1c, T2a, or T2b prostate adenocarcinoma and a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level ≤20 ng/mL received either radiotherapy plus short-term ADT or radiotherapy alone. ADT consisted of flutamide at a dose of 250 mg orally 3 times daily and either monthly subcutaneous goserelin at a dose of 3.6 mg or intramuscular leuprolide at a dose of 7.5 mg for 4 months. Radiotherapy began after 2 months of ADT.

 

At a median follow-up of 9.1 years, the 10-year rate of overall survival was higher for the combination therapy than for radiotherapy alone (62%vs 57%; P = .03). The combination also was associated with a decrease in the 10-year disease-specific mortality rate (8% vs 4%; P = .001).

 

The researchers concluded that their findings “suggest a biologic interaction between short-term ADT and radiotherapy, in contrast to several randomized trials of surgery combined with short-term ADT, which did not show a benefit with respect to outcome.”

 

The complete study is published in the July 14, 2011, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1012348).

Related Items