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Role of hormonal therapy in combination with local treatment for prostate cancer
Article published in Urologia Polska 2006/59/4.

authors

Elżbieta Senkus-Konefka
Katedra i Klinika Onkologii i Radioterapii Akademii Medycznej w Gdańsku

keywords

prostate, prostate cancer, hormonal treatment, combined treatment

summary

Hormonal therapy constitutes one of the mainstays of prostate cancer treatment. Its high efficacy in palliative management of advanced disease prompted introducing this method as an adjunct to local treatments in earlier disease stages. The efficacy of hormonal therapy in combination with local methods has been investigated in various clinical settings in a number of prospective randomized trials. Of those, the combination of hormonal treatment and radiotherapy for locally advanced prostate cancer has been proven evidently beneficial and has become a standard of care for this stage of disease. Particularly effective seems to be concomitant use of these two methods, whereas hormonal therapy preceding radiotherapy is recommended in patients with large prostate volume to improve dosimetric parameters. In early prostate cancer the value of postoperative hormonal treatment is unclear and this method should not be used outside of controlled clinical trials. There are also no indications for routine use of preoperative hormonal therapy. Current research on hormonal therapy is focusing not only on improving its anti-cancer efficacy, but also on decreasing treatment toxicity and improving patients' quality of life. This review presents the results of the most relevant clinical studies on the role of hormonal treatment in combination with local management of prostate cancer.

references

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correspondence

Elżbieta Senkus-Konefka
Klinika Onkologii i Radioterapii AM
ul. Dębinki 7
80-211 Gdańsk
tel./fax (058) 349 22 70
elsenkus@amg.gda.pl