Objective: To explore the effect of neoadjuvant androgen suppression (AS) compared to no AS on cancer-related outcomes after radical high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy for men with presumed organ-confined prostate cancer.
Patients and methods: Between January 1999 and January 2005, 250 patients underwent HIFU for presumed localized adenocarcinoma of the prostate; 154 had received neoadjuvant hormonal therapy and 96 had not. The primary outcome measure was treatment failure, as defined by the presence of prostate cancer on the biopsy taken 6 months after HIFU. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine relationships between the use of HIFU with and with no neoadjuvant AS and treatment failure.
Results: The treatment failure rate was slightly lower in patients receiving neoadjuvant AS (31% vs 34%), but this was not statistically significant (P = 0.119).
Conclusion: In this unrandomized comparison between neoadjuvant or no AS before HIFU for men with presumed organ-confined prostate cancer, there appeared to be little if any benefit associated with the previous administration of AS.