PSMA therapy may postpone the need for hormone treatment in men with limited metastatic prostate cancer, according to research led by Radboudumc published on Mar. 30.
The findings are important because hormone therapy, while effective, often causes unpleasant side effects such as hot flashes, loss of muscle strength, and fatigue. Many patients seek alternatives that can help maintain their quality of life.
In the study, researchers tested whether PSMA therapy—previously used when all other treatments had failed—could also benefit men at an earlier stage of disease. The study included 58 participants with up to five metastases who had already undergone targeted radiation or surgery but not yet started hormone therapy. Half received PSMA therapy immediately; the rest were treated only if their disease progressed.
Nuclear Medicine Physician and project leader James Nagarajah said, "More and more men want to avoid hormone therapy because of the unpleasant side effects that can occur." He added that investigating whether PSMA could delay this step was a key goal for the team.
Results showed that among those who received immediate PSMA therapy, just over half (52%) experienced disease progression after 27 months compared to nearly all (97%) in the control group. On average, follow-up treatments like hormone therapy were delayed by twenty months for those given early PSMA treatment. The researchers reported few side effects and maintained quality of life throughout two years of monitoring.
Bastiaan Privé, first author of the publication in Lancet Oncology, said: "We see that we can postpone more burdensome hormone therapy. In addition, PSMA therapy sometimes reduces the cancer enough for men to become once again eligible for targeted radiation. This may further contribute to delaying hormone treatment in the future."
