The Response of Metastatic Adenocarcinoma of the Prostate to Exogenous Testosterone

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In a retrospective review the response of 67 patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the prostate to the administration of exogenous testosterone was analyzed. Among 52 patients in whom objective and/or subjective responses were evaluable, 45 experienced unfavorable responses. There was prompt regression of most unfavorable responses with testosterone withdrawal. The duration of treatment required to evoke an unfavorable response was related to the clinical status of the patient. Twenty-five percent of patients with symptomatic metastases who had received no prior treatment, 36% in symptomatic remission after endocrine therapy and 94% with symptomatic relapse after endocrine therapy experienced unfavorable responses within 30 days of treatment. No patient had objective evidence of tumor regression during testosterone therapy but 7 patients, 6 with remission and 1 untreated, experienced symptomatic benefit. The response of patients with metastatic prostate cancer to exogenous testosterone is related to the mass and endocrine treatment status, and exogenous testosterone apparently can stimulate prostatic neoplasms that proliferate in the absence of normal endogenous testosterone levels.