August 18, 2004 -- Adding only six months of hormone therapy to external beam radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer increased patients' likelihood of surviving to five years by 10 percent. These findings challenge the current treatment gold standard -- two months of radiation followed by three years of hormone therapy -- a regimen associated with negative side effects significantly impacting quality of life.

Previous studies have shown that combining three years of androgen suppression therapy (AST) with radiation therapy increased survival rates of patients with localized but more advanced prostate cancer.

However, AST use for more than one year has been shown to cause significant side effects, including bone density loss, impaired memory, anemia, breast enlargement, hot flashes, and impotence in some patients, especially those who were elderly.

The new finding comes from researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) in Boston. Their study was published in the August 18, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Anthony D'Amico, MD, PhD, a radiation oncologist at Dana Farber and professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), said: "This is the first study to provide evidence that 3D conformal radiation therapy combined with six months of AST provides a survival benefit for those with early-stage prostate cancer."

"These results should prompt physicians evaluating treatment options to prescribe six months of hormone therapy as opposed to a three-year regimen," D'AMico said. "Six months of hormonal therapy now becomes the preferred duration of hormonal therapy if used for patients with localized prostate cancer treated with external beam radiation."

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a teaching hospital linked to Harvard Medical School. It is one of the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is recognized as comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute.

Dana Farber cancer patient care » prostate cancer

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Edited by J. Strax, Oct 8, 2004