Is hormone therapy necessary with radiation?
A few different people have asked about this in the last few days so here is some information about it.
Advantage of radiation and hormone therapy given at the same time greatly reduced
Overall survival—the chance of being alive years later—was nearly the same whether or not men received hormones with their radiation. After 10 years of follow‑up, 83.6% of men treated with radiation alone were alive, compared with 84.3% of men who also had hormone therapy, a difference of only 0.7%. Statistically, that small gap did not reach the usual bar for significance, meaning it may simply be due to chance.
However, the story changed when researchers looked at PSA level before radiation. Men whose PSA was 0.5 ng/mL or lower when they started radiation did not live longer if they added hormone therapy—whether they took it for a few months or for two full years. Men whose PSA was higher than 0.5 ng/mL, on the other hand, did see some survival benefit from adding hormones, suggesting that hormone therapy makes the most sense for this higher‑risk group.
The study also examined how long hormone therapy should last. Short‑term therapy (about 4–6 months) performed just as well as long‑term therapy (about 24 months) for most men in terms of overall survival. Longer treatment appeared to reduce the chance of the cancer spreading, but it did not clearly translate into men living longer overall in the general study population. Based on these data. Kishan summarized: for men who truly need it, a short course of hormone therapy is usually enough.
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@tjm53
Well, as you probably have heard, some doctors keep a close look at the decipher score and if it’s high, will decide that ADT is necessary after radiation or surgery.
Once that decision has been made, If the PSA stays low, as you are mentioning (.05) Then ADT could be stopped after six months. Even with aggressive cancer, a low PSA for a year or more can be an indicator that ADT can be dropped, To see if it will work. A lot of people are doing it.
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2 Reactions@jeffmarc Sorry, I meant .25, not .05.
@tjm53
I think the doctor would have to make this call whether they want to use ADT. The decipher is not that high.