Early Versus Deferred Androgen Suppression in the Treatment of Advanced Prostatic Cancer – Which Is Better?

An informative and comprehensive analysis of existing research studies evaluating the merits of early vs. deferred commencement of hormone therapy in men with advanced prostate cancer was recently published. The analysis (Wilt T, Nair B, MacDonald R, Rutks I. Early versus deferred androgen suppression in the treatment of advanced prostatic cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2001, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD003506. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003506,) concluded that early androgen therapy for men dealing with advanced prostate cancer reduces disease progression and complications due to the progression. Additionally, it concluded that early androgen therapy may provide a small but statistically significant improvement in overall survival at 10 years, but not sooner.

The researchers felt that the results of this analysis were not always clear-cut. Many of the reviewed studies had a great variability in design, stage of cancer in the enrolled men, interventions utilized by the study, definitions and reporting of outcomes and the lack of PSA testing for diagnostic and monitoring purposes, (the studies predated the use of PSA).

The studies evaluat