The role of endocrine therapy in prostatic cancer.
When judged by randomized clinical trial, current endocrine therapies offer symptomatic relief to prostatic cancer patients for an average period of 1-2 years following initiation of therapy. Medical castration with LHRH analogues is a safe and effective way of achieving 'castrate' levels of circulating androgens without the undesirable aspects of surgery. While there is some evidence for the value of combined therapies using these agents in combination with anti-androgens for 'total androgen blockade' in some patients, overall this approach has not been shown to offer advantages over castration, either surgical or medical, alone in controlled trials. Secondary endocrine therapy does not offer convincing objective response rates, suggesting that disease progression is independent of androgens.
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D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011372:Progestins / Q000494:pharmacology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D051381:Rats; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000494:pharmacology
D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists; D004967:Estrogens; D011372:Progestins; D013629:Tamoxifen; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone