Adding radiotherapy to hormone therapy could improve the outcomes of older patients whose prostate cancer has started to spread.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found combining these therapies in men between the ages of 76 and 85 with locally advanced prostate cancer cut cancer deaths in half when compared to patients who only received hormone therapy, Cancer Research U.K. reported. Locally advanced prostate cancer means the disease has begun spreading.
Hormone therapy blocks testosterone and other males hormones that are linked to tumor growth , and past studies have shown radiology can also improve survival in young men; this new study makes the same findings in an older demographic. The findings are significant because two in five men over the age of 75 with aggressive prostate cancers only receive hormone therapy.
"The NICE guidelines for locally advanced prostate cancer state that any patient who is suitable for radiotherapy should receive it and this should apply irrespective of age," said Professor Malcolm Mason, Cancer Research UK prostate cancer expert.
To make their findings the researchers looked at two landmark clinical trials that involved 31,541 men with prostate cancer between the ages of 65 and 85. After a seven year follow-up the team found deaths from cancer were 57 percent lower among men who received combination therapy compared to those who underwent hormone therapy alone. In men aged 76 to 85 there was a 49 percent reduction.
"This is an important study that [emphasizes] the need for more research into cancer treatment for the elderly. It is vital to ensure that the older people are receiving the best care possible," Mason said.
A recent National Cancer Intelligence Network report called attention to the need for an improvement in the way cancer is treated in older individuals.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
