The Debate Continues, Is IAD or CAD Superior for the Treatment of Men with Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer?

A new randomized study (FinnProstate Study VII) on the merits of intermittent androgen deprivation (IAD) compared to continuous androgen therapy (CAD) contradicts the recent revelations from the last ASCO presentation (Hussain et.al) where the clear conclusion was that CAD was superior to IAD.

At the ASCO conference Dr. Hussain’s study concluded that IAD was significantly less clinically effectve than CAD for the treatment of men with castrate metastatic prostate cancer.

The FinnProstate Study VII has now provided published data in two recent articles: the first deals with relative efficacy and the second with side effects and quality of life.
In the FinnProstate Study VII Salonen et al. initially enrolled 852 men with locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer who all received therapy with 12.5 days of antiandrogen therapy (using cyproterone acetate) to prevent a flare reaction and 24 weeks (6 months) of androgen deprivation with the LHRH agonist goserelin acetate (Zoladex). These 852 men were enrolled into the study between 1997 and 2003.
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