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Predictors of poor response to first-generation anti-androgens as criteria for alternate treatments for patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

  • Urology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Purpose

There are no criteria for administering first- or second-generation anti-androgens (FGA and SGA, respectively) to patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC). This study aimed to assess the efficacy of alternative FGA therapy in nmCRPC patients and the prognosis of these patients and to identify factors for predicting patients potentially responsive to FGA.

Methods

Data from 63 men with nmCRPC who underwent alternative FGA therapy (bicalutamide, flutamide, or chlormadinone acetate) as first-line therapy after failure of primary androgen-deprivation therapy (PADT) between 2004 and 2017 at Hiroshima University Hospital and affiliated hospitals were retrospectively investigated. The associations of clinicopathological parameters with overall survival (OS) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression-free survival (PFS) of alternative FGA-treated patients were analyzed.

Results

Time to CRPC [p = 0.007, hazard ratio (HR) = 4.77], regional lymph node involvement at the diagnosis of CRPC (p = 0.022, HR = 2.42), and PSA-PFS of alternative FGA therapy ≤ 6 months (p = 0.020, HR = 2.39) were identified as prognostic factors using a multivariate analysis. Additionally, Cox proportional hazard models revealed that PSA nadir value > 1 ng/mL during PADT (p = 0.034, HR = 2.40) and time from starting PADT to PSA nadir ≤ 1 year (p = 0.047, HR = 1.85) were predictive factors for worse PSA-PFS in alternative FGA therapy.

Conclusions

Shorter time to CRPC, regional lymph node involvement, PSA nadir during PADT > 1 ng/mL, and time from starting PADT to PSA nadir ≤ 1 year might suggest the potential benefit of immediate commencement of SGA, compared to FGA administration after nmCRPC diagnosis.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to R. Kanaoka, Y. Kohada, T. Babasaki, S. Ohara, and H. Iwamoto for their assistance with data collection. We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing.

Funding

This study was not funded by a grant.

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Correspondence to Jun Teishima.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All the procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Fukuoka, K., Teishima, J., Nagamatsu, H. et al. Predictors of poor response to first-generation anti-androgens as criteria for alternate treatments for patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Int Urol Nephrol 52, 77–85 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-019-02281-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-019-02281-4

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