Objective To describe the outcome, assessed as the level of prostate specific antigen (PSA), of a mature (more than half the events recorded) prospective randomized study with a median follow-up of 82 months of neoadjuvant hormonal therapy before radical prostatectomy, as this has been suggested to decrease the rate of positive surgical margins (i.e. provide greater potential to completely excise the tumour).
Patient and methods From December 1991 to March1994, 126 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer were randomized between direct radical prostatectomy or a 3-month course of a gonadotrophinreleasing hormone analogue before surgery. The patients were followed by PSA determinations and a value of > 0.5 ng/mL used to define progression.
ResultsThe incidence of positive surgical margins decreased from 45.5% to 23.6% ( P = 0.016) with hormone treatment. Despite this there was no difference in PSA progression-free survival at the last follow-up; it was 51.5% for those undergoing radical prostatectomy only and 49.8% for those who received hormonal pretreatment ( P = 0.588). Conclusions Three months of neoadjuvant hormonal therapy before radical prostatectomy offers no benefit to the patient and cannot be recommended for routine clinical use.
Although hormonal pretreatment significantly decreased the positive margin rate, it did not result in any difference in progression-free survival when followup exceeded 3 years. Thus, our current results do not support the routine administration of hormonal treatment before radical prostatectomy.
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