Radiation, Hormone Treatment Combo May Help with Some Prostate Cancers

While many of the 180,000 American men likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year will find their condition is low risk, that is simply not always the case. Some men will find their diagnosis relates to a more aggressive, higher risk form of the disease. New research, however, is showing that a combination treatment may offer some of those in the higher risk category a greater chance for successful treatment with a significantly higher five-year disease-free survival rate.

The combination in question involves the use of androgen suppression therapy along with radiotherapy. Researchers have found that this combination can be especially helpful in treating intermediate to high risk forms of prostate cancer that are caught while they are still localized. In fact, use of androgen suppression therapy for six months when combined with radiation significantly improved biochemical and clinical disease-free survival in a recent study. This was compared with men who were treated with radiotherapy on its own.

The study in question included just over 800 patients, some of which were treated with radiotherapy alone and some with the combination. As it turned out, the disease-free survival rate was much higher in the combination group. What’s more, researchers found no significant differences in health-related quality of life between the two groups despite the use of the hormone suppressing medication. These drugs are used to remove the fuel some forms of cancer, such as prostate, rely on. In turn, these drugs can help slow or stop the development of cancer.

Use of combination therapy, the study concluded, may be very beneficial in some higher risk prostate cancer cases. Men who are diagnosed with the disease should talk about all treatment options with their healthcare providers. Surgery will be a very likely first step in some cases, but radiation and androgen suppression therapy may provide a powerful boost for ensuring cancer is stopped in its tracks. Even so, the best treatment advice will come directly from a physician with first-hand information about a particular case.