title: [Intermittent androgen deprivation treatment of prostate cancer restarted at low level of serum prostate specific antigen: a pilot study].
abstract: We report a pilot study on a novel protocol of intermittent androgen deprivation (IAD) treatment of prostate cancer (PC), in which androgen deprivation is restarted when serum prostatic specific antigen (PSA) level reached more than 2 ng/ml and is stopped when PSA level decreased below 0.3 ng/ml. Thirty-two patients (aged 60 to 86 years, median 74 years) with prostate cancer (Stage A in 4 patients, B in 20, C in 1, D in 5, and relapse after radical prostatectomy in 2) were treated with IAD. Median serum PSA prior to the start of endocrine therapy was 15.65 (range 2.67 to 306.3) ng/ml. Eleven patients were treated with lutenizing-hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist alone and 21 were treated with LHRH agonist plus an antiandrogen. Median duration of first endocrine therapy was 572 (range 100 to 1,543) days. Median serum PSA at the start of first off-phase was 0.038 (range 0.003 to 0.489) ng/ml. After a median of 207 days (range 140 to 843) of follow-up, 19 patients were in the first cycle, 9 in the second cycle, 3 in the third cycle, 1 in the fourth cycle. Two patients developed androgen-independent PC. The median duration of first off-phase of IAD was 287 days. There was a significant inverse relation between the duration of the first on-phase and testosterone level measured 4 months after the cessation of first on-phase therapy (R = -0.518). These results suggest that our protocol provides a reasonable length of off-phase duration and that the long term-androgen deprivation phase might delay the recovery of the testicular endocrine function which should be maintained during the off-phase of IAD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Osaka Red Cross Hospital.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maekawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maegawa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ushida
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohmori
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishimura
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000813:Anilides / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000819:agonists*; D017273:Goserelin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D016729:Leuprolide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009570:Nitriles; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014105:Tosyl Compounds
chemical_list: D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D000813:Anilides; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D009570:Nitriles; D014105:Tosyl Compounds; D017273:Goserelin; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone; C053541:bicalutamide; D016729:Leuprolide