Complete regression of advanced prostate cancer for ten years: A case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Long-term complete regression of prostate cancer (PCa) is a rare phenomenon. The current report presents the case of an advanced PCa patient with rare clinical features. Following the generation of a definitive diagnosis, the patient was administered with flutamide treatment (0.25 g flutamide) 3 times a day, for 5 consecutive years, prior to surgical castration. Following surgery, 3.75 mg enantone was injected (i.h.) once per month for 3 months, without suspending the flutamide treatment. In addition, traditional Chinese herbal medicine was administrated immediately following surgery. Strontium-89 radiotherapy was performed for multiple bone metastases, and the multiple metastatic lesions (lung and bone) of the individual disappeared in <7 months. The patient has currently survived for >10 years with no development of castration resistance or signs of recurrence. Nadir prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels had remained at <0.1 ng/ml following the initial treatment, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) value was high and had been observed to fluctuate during the treatment. The present case report considers the role of the androgen-receptor in PCa and indicates that careful interpretation of nadir PSA and ESR levels may aid in the prediction of patient prognosis.