Long-Term Androgen-Deprivation Therapy With Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer
Posted: Monday, August 20, 2018
Combining androgen-deprivation therapy with external-beam radiation therapy yields better outcomes than androgen-deprivation therapy alone in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer, according to the long-term results of a randomized phase III trial. With a longer median follow-up of 7.3 years, this update confirms the earlier “oncological benefit” reported with this combination therapy. The research was presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting (Abstract 5080) by Paul Sargos, MD, of the Institut Bergonié of Bordeaux, and colleagues.
The trial’s intent-to-treat analysis included 263 patients with locally advanced prostate cancer that had been confirmed by biopsy. Patients were assigned to receive either androgen-deprivation therapy alone or androgen-deprivation therapy combined with external-beam radiation therapy. Androgen-deprivation therapy included both flutamide during the first month and leuprorelin every 3 months for 3 years.
The primary endpoint, 8-year progression-free survival, was significantly higher with the combined treatment than with androgen-deprivation therapy alone (47.9% vs. 7.0%). The 8-year overall survival rate was 65.1% with the combination therapy compared with 56.8% with hormone therapy alone.
Metastasis-free survival was not significantly different between the treatment arms. However, the risk of death from prostate cancer was significantly lower and the locoregional progression–free survival was significantly higher with androgen-deprivation therapy plus radiation therapy than with hormone therapy alone.
