Intermittent hormone therapy Intermittent hormone therapy is an experimental approach to limit the side effects of continuous hormone therapy. Patients remain on hormone therapy until blood PSA levels drop to their lowest level and stabilize. The therapy is then stopped temporarily until PSA levels begin to rise. The reasoning behind intermittent hormone therapy is that it prevents prostate cancer cells from building up the resistance they otherwise might with continuous hormone therapy. Early results of intermittent hormone therapy look promising. Long-term, large-scale studies are needed to determine whether this treatment is more effective than continuous hormone therapy. Adjuvant hormone therapy Researchers are exploring the effectiveness of adding hormone therapy to primary treatments for locally advanced prostate cancers. These are tumors that have spread locally beyond the prostate but have not metastasized to distant locations. Adjuvant hormonal therapy is started after radiation or surgery. A recent study found improved survival rates and reduced risk of cancer recurrence when immediate hormone therapy was given to men with cancerous lymph nodes after radical prostatectomy1 .Other studies indicate that adjuvant hormonal therapy improves overall survival in men who received radiation treatment2,3. Studies in neoadjuvant hormonal therapy are looking at whether shrinking the prostate gland prior to surgery or radiation improves survival rates and reduces the risk of cancer progression. Early results indicate that neoadjuvant therapy seems to be more effective with radiation than with surgery. The long-term effectiveness of adjuvant and neoadjuvant hormonal therapies is not yet known. information last updated on October, 2006 |