Prostate Cancer Therapy Produces Dramatic Results

A study has found that 110 prostate cancer patients with mean prostate-specific antigen (PSA) scores of 13.2 and Gleason scores of 6.6 treated with triple hormone blockade therapy for 13 months are all now off treatment with prostates intact and with average PSA scores of 1.3. None of the patients underwent radiation or surgery. The study was reported in the April 2001 issue of The Oncologist.

For many years, hormone blockade therapy has been used only as treatment for patients whose invasive treatments failed or who were initially diagnosed with metastasised prostate cancer. Now, researchers have found that triple hormone blockade alone successfully treats patients with clinically localized or locally advanced prostate cancer without surgery or radiation. The patients in the study were treated with a three-drug androgen blockade regimen that blocks production of testosterone. Treatment included the use of injectable luetenizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist every 28 days, daily oral doses of antiandrogen plus oral doses of finasteride. Oral finasteride is the only maintenance therapy.

Another benefit of the triple hormone blockade, say the researchers, is that it can treat cancer cells that may have escaped from the prostate, wherever they are in the body. During the study, most patients reported temporary symptoms associated with triple hormone blockade therapy, including hot flashes, loss of libido, and impotence. Upon treatment conclusion, these symptoms almost always reversed. On average, patients starting treatment had a baseline testosterone level of 373 that was then clinically reduced to zero. One year after treatment ended, average levels of testosterone were higher than before treatment began.

"I believe this will be the beginning of the end of radical prostatectomy as the gold standard for treating prostate cancer,” concluded Dr. Robert Leibowitz, who conducted the evaluation of the 110 patients to determine the effectiveness of the treatment. Dr. Leibowitz is a hematologist/oncologist in Los Angeles (CA, USA) who sub-specializes in the treatment of prostate cancer.




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