TUESDAY, Nov. 7 (HealthDay News) -- An additional 24 months of hormone treatment after radiation improves survival in men with aggressive prostate cancer, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in Philadelphia.
Gerald E. Hanks, M.D., from the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, and colleagues studied 1,554 men with localized advanced prostate cancer who received radiation before and during approximately four months of hormone therapy with goserelin and flutamide. Patients were then randomized to either 24 additional months of hormone therapy with goserelin or no additional treatment.
After a follow-up of about 10 years, the researchers found that the additional hormone treatment led to improvements in survival (both disease-free and disease-specific), local progression, metastasis and biochemical failure.
"All men with aggressive cancer (Gleason score of 8 to 10) who received hormone therapy showed a survival benefit of 31.9 versus 45 percent as well as other significant endpoints," Hanks said in a statement.
Abstract
