Therapeutic approaches in prostatic cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Urology
• Endocrinology

Background:

• Advanced prostate carcinoma often requires hormonal therapy.
• Predicting response to treatment is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of combined surgical castration and cyproterone acetate in advanced prostate cancer.
• To identify predictive markers for clinical response to hormonal therapy.

Main Methods:

• Patients with advanced prostate carcinoma underwent surgical castration and cyproterone acetate treatment.
• Histological tumor grading, tissue dihydrotestosterone (DHT) concentrations, and DNA distribution via flow cytometry were assessed.
• Correlation between these markers and clinical response was analyzed.

Main Results:

• Satisfactory clinical results were observed in 75% of patients over a 12-59 month follow-up.
• Tissue DHT levels and DNA patterns significantly correlated with clinical response.
• Patients with DHT levels >1.8 ng/g tissue showed remission, while those with <1.8 ng/g progressed.
• Diploid DNA patterns were more frequent in responders, while aneuploidy was observed in non-responders.

Conclusions:

• Combined hormonal therapy is effective for advanced prostate cancer.
• Histological grading, tissue DHT, and DNA analysis can identify patients likely to benefit from this treatment.
• These markers aid in predicting response to endocrine therapy targeting androgen suppression.