Value of androgen deprivation and bisphosphonate therapy in patients treated by radiotherapy for limited prostate cancer

前列腺癌的生长依赖于男性荷尔蒙--睾酮，它在血液中循环。因此，降低睾酮水平的治疗(雄激素剥夺疗法)可以在临床上产生重要的前列腺癌缩小。在澳大利亚和新西兰，每年约有4000名男性罹患前列腺癌，这种癌症尚未广泛扩散，可以尝试通过手术或放射治疗。最近的试验结果，包括1996年至2000年期间由Trans-Tasman放射肿瘤学小组(TROG)在澳大利亚和新西兰进行的一项大型试验表明，如果结合放射治疗，6个月的AD将使其中许多人受益。该项目的目的是进行进一步的试验，以找出放疗后12个月的AD是否可以避免进一步治疗的需要，并比只有6个月的AD延长更多的生命。双膦酸盐治疗也为前列腺癌患者提供了重要的好处，因为它可以通过增加密度来增加骨强度，还可以阻止骨骼中的癌症生长。因此，这项试验的另一个目的是确定18个月的双膦酸盐疗法(BP)是否可以防止AD引起的骨质丢失(骨质疏松症)，并进一步降低继发性骨癌的风险。这项试验将在5年内在澳大利亚和新西兰招募1000名男性。当试验完成后，将确定是否可以推迟进一步的治疗，延长目前治疗失败的所有男性中的一半人的生命。这笔赠款将支持收集患者数据和进行必要的质量检查，以确保得出可靠的结论。

Prostate cancer depends for its growth on the male hormone, testosterone, which circulates in the blood. As a result treatment which reduces testosterone level ('androgen deprivation'[AD] therapy) can produce clinically important shrinkage of prostate cancer. Each year approximately 4000 men in Australia and New Zealand develop prostate cancer which has not spread widely and which is amenable to attempted cure by surgery or radiation. Results from recent trials, including a large trial run in Australia and New Zealand by the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG) between 1996 and 2000, suggest that 6 months AD will benefit many of these men if administered in conjunction with radiotherapy.The aim of this project is to run a further trial to find out whether 12 months of AD, after radiotherapy will prevent the need for further treatment and prolong more lives than only 6 months AD. Bisphosphonate treatment also offers important benefits to prostate cancer patients because it can increase bony stregth by increasing its density and can also arrest cancerous growth in bones. A further aim of the trial therefore is to determine whether 18 months of bisphosphonate therapy (BP) will prevent bone loss (osteoporosis) caused by AD, and also further reduce the risk of secondary bone cancer developing. This trial will involve recruitment of 1000 men across Australia and New Zealand over a 5 year period. When complete the trial will determine whether further treatment can be delayed and life prolonged in up to half of all men in whom treatment presently fails. This grant will support collection of patient data and the necessary quality checks to ensure that reliable conclusions can be drawn.