The use of hormonal therapy with radiotherapy for prostate cancer: analysis of prospective randomised trials.
In 1901, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen won the Nobel prize in Physics for his discovery of the Röntgen rays or, as he himself called them, X-rays. In 1966, Dr Charles Brenton Higgins won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his breakthroughs concerning hormonal treatment of prostatic cancer. After 31 years, in 1997, the first prospective randomised trials of the combination of hormonal therapy and radiation therapy were published, showing increased survival when compared to radiation therapy alone for patients with prostate cancer. Since 1997, many investigators have published trials combining hormonal and radiation therapy for prostate cancer. This minireview will address the largest and most influential of these trials, and attempt to guide physicians in selecting the appropriate patients for this combined approach.
Department of Radiation Oncology and the Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, 1600 Divisadero St., H-1031, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA.
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Roach
D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal