Posts Tagged ‘prostate cancer’

No Benefit for Hormone Therapy in Low-Risk Prostate Cancer

November 5th, 2009 Von

According to a new study presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology 51st Annual Meeting, men with low-risk prostate cancer who undergo radiation therapy do not need to be treated with hormone therapy. Hormone treatment does not improve survival in this group of prostate cancer patients.

This study, involving 1979 men with prostate cancer, is the largest prostate cancer study to date. Study participants were randomly assigned to receive either hormone therapy plus radiation or radiation alone. After 8 years of follow-up, the overall survival and prostate cancer-specific survival were similar between the two groups of patients. Since hormone therapy can lead to loss of sexual function and liver toxicity, being able to skip hormone treatment means fewer adverse side effects for low-risk prostate cancer patients.

 
This new study definitively establishes that there is no benefit to hormone therapy in men with low-risk prostate cancer. On the other hand, short-term hormone treatment does improve survival in men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer. This study is the first to demonstrate compelling evidence of survival benefit in men with intermediate-risk patients with prostate cancer. However, the radiation doses and techniques used in this study are outdated, and it may be that the higher doses of radiation that are given now would eliminate the need for hormone therapy.
 

Source:

American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 51st Annual Meeting, Presented 2 November 2009.

 

Created on: 11/04/2009
Reviewed on: 11/04/2009

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Posted in Health Tips, Mens health, News, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , No Comments »

Denosumab Increases Bone Density In Prostate Cancer Patients

August 26th, 2009 Von

Prostate cancer patients treated with androgen-deprivation therapy are at risk for bone loss and increased likelihood of fracture.

According to a study published in the August 20, 2009 issues of New England Journal of Medicine, treatment with a monoclonal antibody called denosumab was associated with increased bone density and reduced incidence of new fractures affecting the spine among men receiving androgen-deprivation therapy for non-metastatic prostate cancer.

Scientists from the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and their colleagues randomly assigned androgen-deprivation therapy-treated prostate cancer patients to receive either denosumab or a placebo every 6 months. The researchers found that, at 24 months, bone density of the lumbar spine had increased 5.6% among prostate cancer patients in the denosumab group as compared with a loss of 1.0% in the placebo group. Denosumab therapy was also associated with significant increases in bone density at the total hip, femoral neck, and distal third of the radius. Furthermore, significant differences in bone density between the two groups were detected as early at 1 month and sustained through 36 months of follow-up. Prostate cancer patients who received denosumab also had a decreased incidence of new vertebral fractures at 36 months.
 
Based on the findings of this study, denosumab therapy significantly reduces the bone-related adverse effects of androgen-deprivation therapy among patients with non-metastatic prostate cancer.
 

Source:

NEJM. 2009:361:745-755.

Created on: 08/26/2009
Reviewed on: 08/26/2009

Your rating: None
Posted in Health Tips, Mens health, News, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , No Comments »
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