Combined hormone-chemotherapy for metastatic prostatic carcinoma. Eleven-year follow-up

Thirty-six patients with histology-proved Stage D2 carcinoma of the prostate were treated with a combination of bilateral orchiectomy, diethylstilbestrol 3 mg/day, and chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil and cyclophosphamide) soon after diagnosis was established. The combined therapy was well tolerated by the patients, and complications were not severe and of a transient nature. The majority of patients showed a subjective and objective improvement: 75 per cent of patients had relief of bone pain, and 80 per cent reported relief in urinary symptoms. There was regression or stabilization of the primary tumor in 82.2 per cent. Disappearance or stabilization of osteoclastic lesions on bone scans was noted in 55.5 per cent of patients. The cumulative survival rate at eleven years is 55.5 per cent.