Prostate cancer patients can benefit from 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor treatment: a meta-analysis.

Abstract

BackgroundThe efficacy and safety of 5α-reductase inhibitors (5ARIs) in treating prostate cancer (PCa) have not been fully determined. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of 5ARIs for PCa patients.MethodsA comprehensive literature search of online databases was conducted to obtain comparative studies exploring the effectiveness and safety of 5ARIs in treating PCa up to October 2019. Summarized odds ratio s (OR s) or hazard ratio s (HR s) were calculated to compare the outcomes between 5ARI and control groups. Our meta-analysis was registered in PROSPERO under number CRD42018109809.ResultsA total of 2,277 patients from 10 studies were included. No significant difference was found in prostate-specific antigen progression between two groups (OR = 0.82, 95% CI [0.52–1.29], P = 0.40). However, 5ARI treatment significantly reduced the total progression of PCa (OR = 0.61, 95% CI [0.48–0.77], P < 0.0001), especially for patients with local (OR = 0.56, 95% CI [0.44–0.73], P < 0.00001) and low-Gleason score (≤7) PCa (OR = 0.63, 95% CI [0.48–0.84], P = 0.002). Additionally, 5ARIs also significantly prolonged the progression-free survival time (HR = 0.57, 95% CI [0.34–0.96], P = 0.04) for PCa patients. No significant difference was found in the occurrence of PCa recurrence, metastasis, biopsy reclassification, and side-effects between two groups.ConclusionsOur study suggests that 5ARI treatment can benefit patients with local and low Gleason score (≤7) PCa, especially in delaying the disease progression. More studies with larger sample size and comprehensive study design are still needed to verify our outcomes.