Comparative analysis of the results of continuous and intermittent hormone therapy for disseminated prostate cancer
Objective: to compare the results of continuous and intermittent hormone therapy (HT) in unselected patients with disseminated prostate cancer (PC). Subjects and methods. The study enrolled 113 patients with verified stage cT2b-4N0-1M0-1 PC. The median age of the patients was 70 ± 7.3 years. The median pretreatment concentration of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was 309.8 ng/ml. The cT2 category was diagnosed in 12 (10.6 %) patients, сТ3 in 85 (75.2 %), сТ4 in 16 (14.2 %), сN+ in 32 (28.3 %), and М+ in 74 (65.5 %). At baseline, the median Gleason grade was (3.0 ± 0.8) + (4.0 ± 0.9) = 7.0 ± 1.7. All the patients received immediate HT: castration therapy was performed in 2 (1.8 %) patients, maximal androgen blockade in 96 (85 %), and antiandrogen monotherapy in 15 (13.3 %). Continuous and intermittent treatment regimens were used in 100 (70.8 %) and 33 (29.2 %) cases, respectively. The median follow-up was 31.9 ± 17.7 months. Results. The intermittent HT regimen was associated with a significant increase in overall survival versus that during continuous treatment (medians 57.8 ± 11.6 and 25.2 ± 2.8 months, respectively; p = 0.031). Overall survival benefit remained in the poor prognosis (bone pain and/or a PSA of  d 100 ng/ml and/or сТ4 and/or М+) group. The HT regimen failed to affect survival in the good prognosis (no bone pain, a PSA of 