Discoveries
Combination therapy found effective against early-stage prostate cancer
A study by researchers at Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's Hospital is changing the standard of care for some prostate cancer patients.
Anthony D'Amico, M.D., Ph.D.
The study, led by Anthony D'Amico, M.D., Ph.D., of the Longwood Radiation Oncology Center at Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's, found that combining radiation therapy (RT) with androgen suppression therapy (AST) is more effective than radiation alone in treating early-stage cancer confined to the prostate gland.
D'Amico and his fellow researchers tracked patients who were treated with RT and those who received both RT and AST (AST blocks the action of male hormones that can fuel prostate cancer.) Over a five-year period, they compared levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the two groups. A marked increase in PSA levels over a specific time period is known as PSA failure, and indicates a heightened risk for developing prostate cancer.
Although no significant difference between the treatment groups was found in patients at low risk for prostate cancer, men who were classified as being at intermediate risk and received both therapies were five times less likely to have PSA failure than men who received RT alone. For men in the high-risk group, the effectiveness of combination therapy was also notable: they were two-and-a-half times less likely to have PSA failure than men who had received RT.
"While further research is needed, it appears that the one-two punch of RT and AST may be a more effective treatment in the battle against early-stage prostate cancer," D'Amico said.
This study was published in the Sept.13, 2000, edition of The Journal of the American Medical Association.