Dec 1, 2005

Prolonged Hormonal Therapy Best For Prostate Cancer

May be prolonged duration of treatment with hormonal agents is the answer to the prostate cancer. Men with high-risk prostate cancer fare better when they are treated with at least 12 months of hormone reduction therapy rather than with a shorter duration of treatment, new research suggests. This holds true regardless of how fast growing or advanced the cancer is.

Hormonal therapy involves androgen deprivation, which means lowering levels of male hormones, such as testosterone, in the body in an effort to block or slow the growth of prostate cancer. Androgen deprivation therapy is most commonly achieved with medications, but sometimes doctors may opt to have the testes removed to completely eliminate the male hormone.

The results that I am discussing came out of a study, which involved 307 patients who received hormonal therapy after radiation therapy. About half of the patients received short-term androgen deprivation therapy, defined as less than 12 months, and half received therapy for longer durations. The patients were followed for around 47 months. The typical duration of treatment in the short-term group was 6 months, whereas the duration in the long-term group was 26 months.

On follow-up, 63 percent of long-term therapy patients had no apparent disease compared with just 37 percent of short-term therapy patients. Moreover, the 5-year survival rate in the long-term group was 88 percent, significantly higher than the 75 percent rate seen in the short-term group.

The study shows that long-term androgen deprivation therapy used along with radiation treatment improves survival rates for high-risk patients, regardless of the cancer's aggressiveness or disease stage, researchers concludes.

Mark      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Prostate cancer
The prostate is located just below the bladder and in front of the rectum in male. The tube that carries urine runs through the prostate. The prostate contains cells that make some of the seminal fluid. This fluid protects and nourishes the sperm. Prostate cancer usually starts in the gland cells of the prostate. This kind of cancer is known as adenocarcinoma. Prostate cancer is usually a slow disease, but sometimes it can grow fast and spread quickly to other organs.