Unbound MEDLINE

Duration of androgen suppression in the treatment of prostate cancer. The New England journal of medicine [N Engl J Med] Journal article

 
TitleDuration of androgen suppression in the treatment of prostate cancer.
Author(s)Bolla M, de Reijke TM, Van Tienhoven G, Van den Bergh AC, Oddens J, Poortmans PM, Gez E, Kil P, Akdas A, Soete G, Kariakine O, van der Steen-Banasik EM, Musat E, Piérart M, Mauer ME, Collette L, EORTC Radiation Oncology Group and Genito-Urinary Tract Cancer Group 
InstitutionCentre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Grenoble, Grenoble, France. mbolla@chu-grenoble.fr
SourceN Engl J Med 2009 Jun 11; 360(24):2516-27.
MeSHAdult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Androgen Antagonists
Anilides
Combined Modality Therapy
Disease-Free Survival
Drug Administration Schedule
Flutamide
Follow-Up Studies
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone
Heart Diseases
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Nitriles
Proportional Hazards Models
Prostatic Neoplasms
Quality of Life
Radiotherapy, Conformal
Tosyl Compounds
Treatment Failure
AbstractBACKGROUND: The combination of radiotherapy plus long-term medical suppression of androgens (> or = 2 years) improves overall survival in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer. We compared the use of radiotherapy plus short-term androgen suppression with the use of radiotherapy plus long-term androgen suppression in the treatment of locally advanced prostate cancer.
METHODS: We randomly assigned patients with locally advanced prostate cancer who had received external-beam radiotherapy plus 6 months of androgen suppression to two groups, one to receive no further treatment (short-term suppression) and the other to receive 2.5 years of further treatment with a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist (long-term suppression). An outcome of noninferiority of short-term androgen suppression as compared with long-term suppression required a hazard ratio of more than 1.35 for overall survival, with a one-sided alpha level of 0.05. An interim analysis showed futility, and the results are presented with an adjusted one-sided alpha level of 0.0429.
RESULTS: A total of 1113 men were registered, of whom 970 were randomly assigned, 483 to short-term suppression and 487 to long-term suppression. After a median follow-up of 6.4 years, 132 patients in the short-term group and 98 in the long-term group had died; the number of deaths due to prostate cancer was 47 in the short-term group and 29 in the long-term group. The 5-year overall mortality for short-term and long-term suppression was 19.0% and 15.2%, respectively; the observed hazard ratio was 1.42 (upper 95.71% confidence limit, 1.79; P=0.65 for noninferiority). Adverse events in both groups included fatigue, diminished sexual function, and hot flushes.
CONCLUSIONS: The combination of radiotherapy plus 6 months of androgen suppression provides inferior survival as compared with radiotherapy plus 3 years of androgen suppression in the treatment of locally advanced prostate cancer. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00003026.)
Languageeng
Pub Type(s)Journal Article
Multicenter Study
Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PubMed ID19516032