Faculty Opinions recommendation of Long-term results with immediate androgen suppression and external irradiation in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer (an EORTC study): a phase III randomised trial.
Prostate cancer represents a spectrum ranging from low-grade, localized tumors to devastating metastatic disease. Limited evidence has led to a lack of consensus regarding the preferred treatment. External beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and brachytherapy may be offered as monotherapy or in conjunction depending on patient and tumor factors; hormone therapy also may play a synergistic role in patients with intermediate- and high-risk disease by promoting cellular apoptosis. This study, together with {1}, shows that a 6-month course of neoadjuvant hormonal therapy has a survival benefit in intermediate-risk patients ultimately receiving EBRT and adjuvant hormonal therapy prolongs survival in high-risk patients and/or patients with locally advanced disease. Hence, combined androgen deprivation therapy and EBRT should be discussed and offered to patients with locally advanced prostate cancer. This Recommendation is of an article referenced in an F1000 Faculty Review also written by Badrinath Konety, Katherine Cotter and Maria A. Ordonez.