[Clinical evaluation of CMA in the treatment of prostatic cancer]

Forty five patients with previously untreated prostatic cancer were given chlormadinone acetate (CMA) at a dose of 100 mg/day (mean 12.6 months), and 42 of them were evaluated for effectiveness. Overall response evaluation revealed 19 complete responses (45.2%), 14 partial responses (33.3%), 4 minor responses (9.5%), and 5 were unresponsive (11.9%). Consequently CMA was judged to be effective in 33 patients (78.6%, complete and partial responses). Response rate was 100.0% for stage A, 88.9% for stage B, 77.8% for stage C, and 57.1% for stage D. The response rate for stage D was relatively high, possibly because the time of judgement of effectiveness was a little too early. As side effects, elevated triglyceride level, impaired liver function and impotence were noted in one patient each. All of them were slight. The testosterone level in both castrated and non-castrated patients were not higher than that in women, and no significant difference in the level was noted between the groups. Nevertheless, the clinical usefulness of castration is not denied. CMA is considered useful as an endocrine therapeutic drug, though its effect on the disease at stage D was insufficient. The administration method, such as sequential treatment and combination treatment of CMA and estrogen preparations, is a future subject.