Ben Kazie MD

Debate has continued as to the proper length of time to keep men on hormone therapy (really hormone blockade) when treating advanced prostate cancer.  Several schools of thought have emerged looking for ways to lower the amount of blockade given or reduce the length of time that hormonal blockade is maintained.  It would appear clear now that at least in the case of men undergoing radiation therapy in conjunction with hormonal ablation, that longer is better.  The new study from The New England Journal of Medicine clearly shows advantages in overall deaths, prostate cancer deaths and 5 year prostate specific mortality.  The moral of this story is if you need the hormonal blockade, you need to stay on it  . . . ben kazie md

The combination of radiotherapy plus long-term medical suppression of androgens (2 years) improves overall survival in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer.  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

Duration of Androgen Suppression in the Treatment of Prostate Cancer – http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/360/24/2516

Hormone Therapy in Treating Patients With Advanced Prostate Cancer – http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00003026

Short-Term vs. Long-Term Hormone Therapy for Prostate Cancer – http://oncology-hematology.jwatch.org/cgi/content/full/2009/610/1

Duration of Androgen Suppression in the Treatment of Prostate Cancer- http://www.oncologystat.com/journals/journal_scans/Duration_of_Androgen_Suppression_in_the_Treatment_of_Prostate_Cancer.html

Longer Duration of Androgen Suppression Benefits Patients with Localized Prostate Cancer – http://professional.cancerconsultants.com/oncology_main_news.aspx?id=43672