Hormonal treatment improves survival in high-risk prostate cance...( April 1 2005 Administering hormonal t...),Health

April 1, 2005 Administering hormonal treatment in addition to radiation therapy in patients with high-risk prostate cancer can improve survival rate, according to a new study published in the April 1, 2005, issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of ASTRO, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

The study, conducted between1987 and 1992, separated 977 patients into two groups: the adjuvant arm and the observation arm. Those in the adjuvant arm received radiation therapy and goserelin acetatc, a type of hormonal agent. The patients in the observation arm received radiation therapy only. Goserelin acetatc was administered only if they experienced a relapse.

As of July 2003, the median follow-up for all patients was 7.6 years and for surviving patients, 11 years. At ten years, the overall survival rate was significantly higher for the adjuvant arm than the observation arm 49 percent to 39 percent, respectively. The local failure rate at ten years for the adjuvant arm was 23 percent and 38 percent for the observation arm and the ten year rates for cancer metastasizing to other parts of the body were 24 percent for the adjuvant patients versus 399 percent for the observation patients. Finally, the prostate cancer-related death rate was 16 percent for adjuvant and 22 percent for the observation arm.

"The results of the study firmly establish the role of adjuvant hormonal management in high-risk carcinoma of the prostate treated with definitive radiotherapy," said Miljenko V. Pilepich, M.D., a radiation oncologist at the University of California, Los Angeles and lead author of the study.

'"/>

Contact: Nick Lashinsky
nickl@astro.org
703-227-0185
American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
31-Mar-2005

Page: 1
Related medicine news :

1. Hormonal response to stress alters immune system function and alters mental and physical disease
2. Chronic pain treatments more effective when taken together, new study shows
3. Brain activity prior to treatment flags vulnerability to antidepressant side effects
4. Cultural and social factors influence prostate cancer treatment
5. Research offers hope of new treatments for liver damage
6. First mouse model for multiple system atrophy points to new treatment targets for brain diseases
7. Stanford patient is first to test new treatment for peripheral arterial disease
8. Scientist works on innovative treatments for brain tumors
9. Blacks less likely to get expensive, newer heart treatments
10. Growth hormone treatment improves symptoms of metabolic disorder in postmenopausal women
11. Study examines lessons learned at Africas first public antiretroviral treatment clinic