For patients with localized prostate cancer, androgen deprivation therapy may be harmful

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the Journal of OncoTargets and Therapy, researchers from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, have found that primary androgen deprivation therapy (PADT) was linked with increased all-cause mortality and prostate cancer-specific mortality when compared with radical prostatectomy among men with clinically localized prostate cancer.

For the study, researchers identified 1,624 men diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer who underwent PADT and 1,624 men with clinically localized prostate cancer who underwent a radical prostatectomy.

Of the 1,624 patients who received PADT, about 16% died of any cause and 4% died specifically from prostate cancer. of the 1,624 men who opted for radical prostatectomy, about 3% died of any cause and 0.25% died specifically from prostate cancer. The researchers found that the 8-year survival rate among patients who received PADT was approximately 44% and 80% in the radical prostatectomy group.

The findings suggest that PADT was associated with a higher all-cause and prostate cancer-specific mortality compared with radical prostatectomy in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer. Therefore, PADT may not be a good choice as treatment for patients with localized prostate cancer.