Publications

Publications

Intermittent versus continuous androgen deprivation in prostate cancer.

By:
Contributors: Bryan Donnelly, MD, MSc, FRCSC, Peter Venner, MD, FRCPC
Urol Oncol. 2014 Aug;32(6):936-7. doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2014.01.009.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Castration resistance occurs in most patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer who are receiving androgendeprivation therapy. Replacing androgens before progression of the disease is hypothesized to prolong androgen dependence.

METHODS:

Men with newly diagnosed, metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, a performance status of 0 to 2, and a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of 5 ng per milliliter or higher received a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue and an antiandrogen agent for 7 months. We then randomly assigned patients in whom the PSA level fell to 4 ng per milliliter or lower to continuous or intermittent androgen deprivation, with patients stratified according to prior or no prior hormonal therapy, performance status, and extent of disease (minimal or extensive). The coprimary objectives were to assess whether intermittent therapy was noninferior to continuous therapy with respect to survival, with a one-sided test with an upper boundary of the hazard ratio of 1.20, and whether quality of life differed between the groups 3 months after randomization.

RESULTS:

A total of 3040 patients were enrolled, of whom 1535 were included in the analysis: 765 randomly assigned to continuous androgen deprivation and 770 assigned to intermittent androgen deprivation. The median follow-up period was 9.8 years. Median survival was 5.8 years in the continuous-therapy group and 5.1 years in the intermittent-therapy group (hazard ratio for death with intermittent therapy, 1.10; 90% confidence interval, 0.99 to 1.23). Intermittent therapy was associated with better erectile function and mental health (P<0.001 and P=0.003, respectively) at month 3 but not thereafter. There were no significant differences between the groups in the number of treatment-related high-grade adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our findings were statistically inconclusive. In patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, the confidence interval for survival exceeded the upper boundary for noninferiority, suggesting that we cannot rule out a 20% greater risk of death with intermittent therapy than with continuous therapy, but too few events occurred to rule out significant inferiority of intermittent therapy. Intermittent therapy resulted in small improvements in quality of life. (Funded by the National Cancer Institute and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00002651.).

Graph

 PubMed

Download PDF

 

APCaRI is part of the Movember Prostate Cancer Outcomes network

The Prostate Cancer Outcomes Global Initiative to Compare and Reduce Variation is a project led by Movember aiming to improve health outcomes for men throughout their prostate cancer journey by focusing on variation in care and engaging clinicians and researchers across 14 countries worldwide.

The international team will collect data from prostate cancer patients segmented into the categories of data items as outlined by the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM). These include patient factors, baseline tumor factors, pathological information, treatment variables, acute complications of treatment, and survival and disease control).

The Alberta Prostate Cancer dataset is highly aligned with the ICHOM standards. This means that we can effectively compare treatments and outcomes in Alberta with teams around the world to find ways to improve our care at home and abroad!

This is the result of hours of planning and true team work lead by Dr. Trafford Crump, the APCaRI Scientific and Data Quality Committee, and the APCaRI clinical, scientific, research and pathology teams. Thanks to your efforts, we are one step closer to improving patient outcomes.

- John Lewis