title: Total androgen blockade versus a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist alone in men with high-risk prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether short-course total androgen blockade vs. a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist alone affects the risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) in men with localized but high-risk disease treated with radiotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study cohort comprised 628 men with T1-T4, N0, M0 prostate cancer with high-risk disease (prostate-specific antigen level >20 ng/mL, Gleason score >or=8, or clinical category >or=T3) treated with 45 Gy of external beam radiotherapy followed by a brachytherapy boost in addition to receiving a median of 4.3 (interquartile range [IQR], 3.6-6.4) months of hormonal blockade with an LHRH agonist plus an antiandrogen or monotherapy with an LHRH agonist. Fine and Gray's multivariable regression analysis was used to determine whether combination androgen suppression therapy (AST) vs. monotherapy affected the risk of PCSM, adjusting for treatment year, duration of AST, age, and known prognostic factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After a median follow-up of 4.9 (IQR, 3.5-6.5) years, men receiving combination AST had a lower risk of PCSM than those treated with monotherapy (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 0.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.04-0.90; p = 0.04). An increasing prostate-specific antigen level (AHR, 2.70; 95% CI, 1.64-4.45; p < 0.001) and clinical category T3/4 disease (AHR, 29.6; 95% CI, 2.88-303.5; p = 0.004) were also associated with an increased risk of PCSM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In men with localized but high-risk prostate cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy, short-course AST with an LHRH agonist plus an antiandrogen is associated with a decreased risk of PCSM when compared with monotherapy with an LHRH agonist.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Radiation Oncology Program, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ananda@partners.org
authors.forename: Akash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nanda
authors.forename: Ming-Hui
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.forename: Michelle H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Braccioforte
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dosoretz
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salenius
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katin
authors.forename: Rudi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Anthony V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: D'Amico
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000726:Androgen Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000379:methods; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017273:Goserelin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D016729:Leuprolide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012044:Regression Analysis
chemical_list: D000726:Androgen Antagonists; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D017273:Goserelin; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen; D016729:Leuprolide