Medroxyprogesterone Found Helpful in Prostate Cancer

Study says drug should be first choice to reduce hot flushes in men undergoing hormonal therapy

TUESDAY, Dec. 8 (HealthDay News) -- In men receiving hormone therapy for prostate cancer, medroxyprogesterone should become the new standard treatment for preventing hot flushes, according to a study published online Dec. 7 in The Lancet Oncology.

Jacques Irani, M.D., of University Hospital in Poitiers, France, and colleagues studied 919 patients who were initially treated with leuprorelin for six months. After six months, they randomly assigned the 311 patients who still had 14 or more hot flushes in the week before assessment or spontaneously requested treatment to receive either venlafaxine, medroxyprogesterone, or cyproterone acetate.

After six months, the researchers found that all three drugs reduced the occurrence of hot flushes and that there was little difference in how well patients tolerated them. However, they determined that cyproterone and medroxyprogesterone were significantly more effective than venlafaxine at reducing hot flushes.

"As cyproterone is a recognized treatment in prostate cancer, and its use could interfere with hormonal therapy, medroxyprogesterone could be considered to be the standard treatment for hot flushes in men undergoing androgen suppression for prostate cancer," the authors conclude.

This study was supported by Takeda Laboratories; several authors reported financial relationships with Takeda and other pharmaceutical companies.

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