Long Acting LHRH Versus Short Acting LHRH in the Treatment of Prostate Cancer
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2013-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Brachytherapy, or Transperineal implantation of the prostate (TPIP), is a recognized form of
treatment for localized cancer of the prostate. TPIP has been used at the British Columbia
Cancer Agency (BCCA) since 1998. As part of the treatment, some patients also require hormone
therapy for 6 months. This is given as injections of a drug called an LHRH agonist. The LHRH
agonist is made either as short-acting (1-month) or long-acting (3 month) injections. The
LHRH agonist lowers testosterone levels, which helps make delivery of TPIP easier, and more
effective.
There are specific guidelines regarding the use of LHRH agonist treatment with brachytherapy,
however there is no policy whether short-acting or long-acting LHRH agonists should be used.
Analysis of results from BC has shown that there seems to be a delay in the time in which
testosterone levels return to normal in men who receive the long-acting LHRH agonist compared
with the short-acting LHRH agonist, however this is not known for sure.