Hormonal therapy in the treatment of carcinoma of the prostate

Abstract

Although chronic hormonal treatment is the cornerstone of therapy in metastatic disease, questions are being raised regarding the need for continual ablation. With increasing cognizance on quality‐of‐life issues and cost of therapy, an intergroup trial is being planned to compare intermittent combined hormonal therapy versus continual therapy in patients with minimal metastatic disease and good performance status. Newly diagnosed patients with severe metastatic disease should soon be eligible for a trial to evaluate the addition of the chemotherapeutic agent suramin to standard combined therapy. During the past several years there has been a trend toward the use of hormonal ablation in earlier stages of prostate cancer. Hormonal therapy is being used with increasing frequency in both neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings, and the use of prostate specific antigen is one prognostic factor that has shifted the focus in follow‐up and treatment of all stages of the disease. To answer the challenges in the treatment of prostatic cancer, clinical trials are playing an increasingly important role in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. Cancer 1995;75:1914–9. Copyright © 1995 American Cancer Society