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The survival chances of men with locally advanced prostate cancer can be dramatically increased by a combination of chemical castration and radiotherapy.
Doctors found that by following radiotherapy with treatment with Zoladex (goserelin), the proportion of men still alive after 10 years increased by almost 20% compared with using radiotherapy alone.
The study was carried out on 415 men with locally advanced prostate cancer which had just started to spread. Zoladex works to stop production of testosterone, the male sex hormone that fuels the cancer’s growth.
After nine years, 112 patients on radiotherapy alone had died compared with 80 treated both with radiotherapy and Zoladex. The proportion of men surviving to 10 years increased by 18.35 from 39.8% to 58.1%.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Heather Payne, consultant clinical oncologist at University College Hospital London, said: “An extensive body of evidence already exists to support the efficacy of goserelin in the treatment of all stages of prostate cancer.
“This exciting data provides evidence that adjuvant goserelin therapy can consistently allow patients to outlive their disease and essentially provide a cure for a substantial number of men with locally advanced prostate cancer.”
The results of the study were presented to the annual meeting of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) in Boston.
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