NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Jul 28 - Adding hormone therapy to radiotherapy for locally advanced prostate cancer reduces disease recurrence and prolongs survival, according to a report in the August 1 issue of Cancer.
The results also indicate that the added hormone therapy does not increase toxicity, Dr. Emilio Bria, from Regina Elena National Cancer Institute in Rome, and co-researchers note.
The findings stem from a meta-analysis of data from seven trials featuring a total of 4,387 patients.
The use of hormone suppression in combination with radiotherapy cut the risk of biochemical failure by 24% and improved clinical progression-free survival by 19%, the report shows. Cancer-specific survival and overall survival were improved by 24% and 14%, respectively.
Treatment with hormone therapy reduced the risks of local and distant relapse by 36% and 28%, respectively.
As noted, hormone therapy plus radiotherapy caused no greater toxicity than did radiotherapy alone.
"Although the results of the current study confirm and quantify the benefit of adding hormone suppression to exclusive radiotherapy for patients with locally advanced prostate cancer, a 'road map' to identify which patients really benefit from such a strategy and what is the optimal duration of treatment needs to be drawn," the authors state. Gene and molecular profiling, they add, may help in this regard.
Cancer 2009;115:3446-3456.
Last Updated: 2009-07-28 8:00:37 -0400 (Reuters Health)
Related Reading
Brachytherapy combo improves prostate cancer results, July 22, 2009
Swiss study links prostate radiotherapy to higher colon cancer risk, June 24, 2008
External radiation and brachytherapy effective for high-risk prostate cancer, August 27, 2007
Copyright © 2009 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
