[Sequential hormone and radiation therapy for stage D1 prostate cancer]

From 1980 to 1991, 18 patients with pathologically proven stage D1 prostate cancer were treated with sequential hormone and radiation therapy at Cancer Institute Hospital. The patient mean age was 65.5 year old and mean follow-up period was 3.7 years. Diethylstilbestrol diphosphate or chlormadinone acetate was given prior to radiation therapy and 70 Gy of external radiotherapy using linear accelerator was sequentially delivered to the primary lesion in 35 fractions. Hormone therapy was continued following radiation therapy. Complete flattening of the primary lesion on digital examination was achieved in all cases. Complications of the treatment were minimal and transient. Tumor progression was observed in 4 cases and 2 of them died of cancer. Five-year non-progression rate, 5-year overall survival rate, 5-year disease specific survival rate and cancer death rate were 65%, 68%, 82% and 50% respectively. Prognoses of the patients with poorly differentiated cancer were worse than those with more differentiated cancer. Sequential hormone and radiation therapy for patients with stage D1 prostate cancer improved the patients' survival almost comparable to those of patients with stage C disease.