Duration of Androgen Suppression in the Treatment of Prostate Cancer

A current standard treatment for locally advanced prostate cancer is external-beam radiotherapy combined with 3 years of androgen suppression. Adverse events, such as myocardial infarction, are associated with long-term androgen suppression. This trial examined survival after treatment with long-term (3 years) or short-term (6 months) androgen suppression, plus external-beam radiotherapy, in men with locally advanced prostate cancer. Overall and prostate-cancer–specific survival in the group receiving short-term androgen suppression was inferior to that in the group receiving long-term suppression. This trial examined survival after treatment with long-term (3 years) or short-term (6 months) androgen suppression, plus external-beam radiotherapy, in men with locally advanced prostate cancer. Overall and prostate-cancer–specific survival in the group receiving short-term androgen suppression was inferior. Overall survival among patients with locally advanced prostate cancer has improved with the use of external-beam radiotherapy combined with long-term androgen suppression (≥2 years) as compared with the use of external-beam radiotherapy and deferral of hormonal treatment until relapse. 1 – 5 However, long-term androgen suppression can reduce the quality of life and increase the risk of fatal myocardial infarction, 6 fractures, 7 and the metabolic syndrome. 8 These risks might be lowered by replacing long-term androgen suppression with short-term suppression (6 months), which has been found to reduce mortality from localized prostate cancer. 9 The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) conducted . . .