Prostate Cancer: Closing the Gap Between Science and Practice — Introduction and Conclusions

Abstract

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has become the mainstay treatment in patients with advanced PCa (ie, locally advanced and metastatic PCa). In recent years, ADT has been used in younger patients with earlier disease stages, for instance, as adjuvant treatment with radiotherapy (RT) [3]. ADT, however, is associated with substantial adverse events, such as hot flushes, sexual problems, fatigue, psychological problems, and metabolic syndrome, that may adversely affect a patient’s quality of life (QoL) [3]. Intermittent hormone therapy (IHT) has gained interest as an alternative to continuous hormone therapy for advanced PCa, with the aim of reducing adverse events and improving QoL [3–5]. Generally, physicians should carefully weigh the benefits against the potential risks of ADT in patients with PCa. Additionally, patients should be well informed about the treatment approach and its potential adverse events. During the symposium ‘‘Prostate cancer: Closing the gap between science and practice’’, five experts discussed recent findings related to PCa treatment, particularly hormone therapy. They first discussed recent data on the detection and management of PCa that were retrieved from abstracts presented at urological and oncological congresses in 2008 and were critically selected by urological experts. The current status of neoadjuvant or adjuvant hormone therapy to local treatment in the management of PCa was summarised. Scientific evidence on IHT and recommendations on how to implement IHT in clinical practice were presented. Lastly, they discussed several aspects considered important in the maintenance or improvement of the QoL of PCa patients treated with ADT. This manuscript introduces and summarises the presentations given at a satellite symposium on PCa that was held during the 24th annual congress of the European Association of Urology (EAU) in March 2009 in Stockholm, Sweden.