Six Months Of Hormone Therapy Enough For Prostate Cancer

Patients with prostate cancer treated with either radiation or surgery who use hormone treatment for longer than six months do not survive any longer than patients who use the therapy for a shorter amount of time, as per a research studypresented November 5, 2006, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 48th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

"A number of patients with high risk prostate cancer are treated with two or more years of hormone treatment based on studies performed over a decade ago," said Cliff Robinson, M.D., lead author of the study and a radiation oncologist at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. "Our study's findings suggest that treating current patients with shorter-term hormone treatment may not only be equally effective, but also improve their quality of life, due to a lesser degree of therapy side effects."

The authors also observed that patients receiving longer than six months of hormone treatment were twice as likely to die as patients who use the therapy for a shorter amount of time. "The reasons why patients receiving longer term hormone treatment may do worse are unclear," said Dr. Robinson, who also cautions, "Many factors could complicate the issue, and this area needs further investigation before any conclusions can be drawn".

Androgen deprivation treatment is a hormone treatment used to treat prostate cancer by lowering the level of male hormones (androgens) to shrink or slow down the growth of prostate cancer. It has been shown to dramatically slow advanced prostate cancer that has already spread to the lymph nodes or the bone, and improves survival when combined with radiation treatment in advanced prostate cancer that has not already spread.

Several side effects are common to androgen deprivation treatment and are a direct result of decreased androgen levels. Side effects vary significantly depending on the amount and length of time the hormone treatment is given. Potential side effects include reduced sexual desire, impotence, hot flashes, weakening of the bones, breast tenderness or breast growth, as well as other conditions.

The study evaluated 579 patients who were treated at the Cleveland Clinic with high risk prostate cancer from 1996 to 2003. These patients were divided into three groups - one that received no androgen deprivation treatment, one that had received six months or less of androgen deprivation treatment, and one that received more than six months of therapy - to determine if longer use of hormone treatment stopped cancer from growing and lengthened survival.


Posted by: Mark    Source