Duration of the anti-androgen in men undergoing six months of an LHRH agonist and radiation therapy for unfavorable-risk prostate cancer and the risk of death.

Abstract

5070Background: Whether adding an anti-androgen (AA) to a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist in the radiotherapeutic management of unfavorable-risk prostate cancer (PC) reduces all cause and PC-specific mortality (ACM and PCSM) risk is unknown. We evaluated whether the extent of AA received impacted the risk of ACM and PCSM within comorbidity subgroups. Methods: Between 1995 and 2001, 206 men with localized unfavorable-risk PC were enrolled on a randomized trial comparing radiation with (N = 102) or without (N = 104) 6 months of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Partial AA use (median: 4.2 months) occurred in 29 of the 102 men randomized to ADT due to discontinuation for elevated liver function tests or diarrhea. Cox and Fine and Gray's regressions were used to evaluate the impact of full versus partial AA use on PCSM and ACM risk within comorbidity subgroups adjusting for age and PC prognostic factors. Results: After a median follow-up of 16.62 years, 156 men died, 29 from PC (19%) in...