title: Simultaneous administration of pure antiandrogens, a combination necessary for the use of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists in the treatment of prostate cancer.
abstract: Although castration levels of serum androgens are consistently achieved after 2-3 weeks of treatment with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists, the administration of these peptides alone in adult men is always accompanied by a transient increase in plasma testosterone and dihydrotestosterone levels, which lasts for 5-15 days at the beginning of treatment and is accompanied by disease flare-up in some cases, thus seriously limiting the acceptability of this otherwise efficient and well-tolerated treatment. The present data show that the simultaneous administration of a pure antiandrogen neutralizes the influence of the transient increase in serum androgens on prostate cancer, as indicated by the 60% decrease in serum prostatic acid phosphatase observed within 5 days of combined treatment with an LHRH agonist and a pure antiandrogen. The addition of a pure antiandrogen thus makes fully acceptable the use of LHRH agonists as an advantageous substitute for surgical castration and estrogens in the treatment of prostate cancer.
mesh_terms: D000135:Acid Phosphatase / Q000097:blood; D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002064:Buserelin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D048289:Imidazolidines; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D007093:Imidazoles; D048289:Imidazolidines; D013739:Testosterone; C021277:nilutamide; D000135:Acid Phosphatase; D002064:Buserelin