Short-Term ADT Plus RT for Prostate Cancer Boosts Survival

The use of androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) for two months before and two months during radiation therapy (RT) for early prostate cancer (PCa) is associated with significantly increased overall survival and decreased disease-specific mortality, researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine (2011:365:107-118).

In a study of 1,979 patients with stage T1b, T1c, T2a, or T2b PCa and a PSA level of 20 ng/mL or less, the 10-year rate of overall survival was 62% for patients receiving short-term ADT plus radiotherapy compared with 57% for receiving radiotherapy alone. Overall, the 10-year disease-specific mortality was 8% in the RT-only group compared with 4% in the ADT-RT recipients. This reduction was observed mainly in patients with intermediate-risk PCa and not in those with low-risk disease.