Short-Term Hormone Therapy Added to Radiation Increases Survival for Medium-Risk, But Not Low-Risk, Prostate Cancer Patients

Short-Term Hormone Therapy Added to Radiation Increases Survival for
Medium-Risk, But Not Low-Risk, Prostate Cancer Patients

CHICAGO, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Short-term hormone therapy given
prior to and during radiation treatment to medium-risk prostate cancer
patients increases their chance of living longer, compared to those who
receive radiation alone, however there is no significant benefit for low-risk
patients, according to the largest randomized study of its kind presented at
the plenary session November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the
American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

This phase III study is one of the largest clinical trials of prostate cancer
therapy ever completed, with 2,000 low- and intermediate-risk patients
enrolled in the trial from October 1994 to April 2001. Researchers from the
Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) followed men with early-stage prostate
cancer for a period in most cases of more than nine years. This timeframe was
sufficient to show improved survival benefits of short-term hormone therapy
added to what was then the standard radiation treatment for prostate cancer,
which involved slightly lower doses of radiation than are currently used today
with newer techniques, such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).

"The study provides strong scientific evidence that shows us when to deliver
hormone therapy with radiation in patients with localized prostate cancer,"
Christopher U. Jones, M.D., an author of the study and a radiation oncologist
at Radiological Associates of Sacramento in Sacramento, Calif., said. "Our
findings show that men with low-risk disease, which is the vast majority of
prostate cancer patients, have little to gain from adding hormone therapy to
radiation. However, men with intermediate-risk disease, which is a significant
minority of patients, gain a benefit in overall survival from the addition of
only four months of hormone therapy. Prior to this trial, it was unclear
whether or not combining hormone therapy with radiation for medium-risk
prostate cancer patients improves survival."

Androgen deprivation therapy is hormone therapy used to treat prostate cancer
by stopping or lowering the level of male hormones, or androgens, thereby
removing the strongest growth factor for prostate cancer cells.

In the study, a total of 1,979 eligible men who had cancer confined to the
prostate and a PSA less than or equal to 20 were randomized to receive total
androgen deprivation therapy two months prior to and two months during
radiation treatment, or radiation alone.

Findings show that short-term hormone therapy given to early-stage prostate
cancer patients prior to and during radiation treatment significantly
increases their chance of living longer (51 percent), compared to those who
receive radiation alone (46 percent). Nearly all of the survival benefit was
in the intermediate-risk group. Secondary endpoints of disease-free survival,
freedom from biochemical failure, and positive two year re-biopsy rates were
also better in the group who received short-term hormone therapy and radiation
treatment.

The study was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute.

For more information on radiation therapy for prostate cancer, visit
www.rtanswers.org.

The abstract, "Short-Term Endocrine Therapy Prior To and During Radiation
Therapy Improves Overall Survival in Patients with T1b-T2b Adenocarcinoma of
the Prostate and PSA <20: Initial Results of RTOG 94-08," will be presented at
the plenary session at 2:15 p.m. on Monday, November 2, 2009. To speak to the
presenter of the study, Christopher U. Jones, M.D., please call Beth Bukata or
Nicole Napoli November 1-4, 2009, in the ASTRO Press Room at McCormick Place
West at 312-791-7005 or 312-791-7006. You may also e-mail them at
bethb@astro.org or nicolen@astro.org.

SOURCE American Society for Radiation Oncology

Beth Bukata, bethb@astro.org, or Nicole Napoli, nicolen@astro.org,
800-962-7876, Press Room Phone: Nov. 1-4, +1-312-791-7005, or +1-312-791-7006,
After Hours: +1-703-474-0940