Hormonal therapy of prostate cancer: current concepts and future prospects

The goal of hormonal treatment of prostate cancer is to deprive the prostatic cancer cell of androgen. This may be achieved by orchiectomy, a simple and safe procedure (but one which may have adverse psychological consequences), or by the administration of estrogens--particularly diethylstilbestrol (with its attendant risk of thromboembolic complications), synthetic analogs of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (which seem to be effective and free of side effects), or antiandrogens (whose effectiveness and safety are being tested). All treatments that deprive the cancer cell of androgen seem to be equally effective. Selection of treatment thus depends on patient preference, potential side effects, and cost.