[Bicalutamide monotherapy of patients with disseminated forms of prostatic cancer]

Combined antiandrogen therapy (complete androgen blocking) implies surgical or chemical castration in combination with antiandrogen therapy. Both sources of androgens are thus blocked in patients with locally disseminated prostatic cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of bikalutamide (150 mg) monotherapy. The study was carried out in 58 patients with prostatic cancer (stages T3-T4) divided into 2 groups: 1) bikalutamide monotherapy (150 mg daily) and 2) bikalutamide (50 mg daily) + bilateral orchidectomy. All patients were examined before and 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after the beginning of therapy. The efficiency of non-steroid antiandrogen was higher in group 1. The mean level of prostate-specific antigen in this group decreased to 10.6 ng/ml by 24 months, while in group 2 to 25.3 ng/ml. Hence, bicalutamide was effective, safe, and well tolerated in our study, and is therefore recommended as monotherapy for patients with disseminated forms of prostatic cancer.