There were many very interesting and very important items presented at the recent ASCO GU conference. Over the course of the next week or two I will be systematically reviewing many of these finds that have a direct impact on men with advanced prostate cancer.

Today’s review is about how to create better results for men with locally advanced or high-risk prostate cancer. Researchers found that adding a treatment course of local radiotherapy to hormonal treatment (ADT) in men with locally advanced or high-risk prostate cancer more than halved the 10-year and 15-year prostate-cancer–specific mortality compared to treatment with anti-androgens (ADT) alone. These results come from a updated analysis of the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group VII study.

According to Sophie Dorothea Fosså, MD, a professor in the department of oncology at Oslo University Hospital in Norway, “In these patients the combination of radiotherapy and hormones may be considered as a standard curative treatment option and patients should be informed about this.” She also said “This updated data showed that at 10 years, cumulative prostate-cancer–specific mortality was 8.3% in patients assigned combination treatment compared with 18.9% in the anti-androge