Combination Endocrine and Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer

For patients with locally advanced prostate cancer, the combination of antiandrogen and radiation therapies yields better outcomes than does radiation therapy alone, but until now, combination therapy has not been compared with endocrine therapy alone. Researchers in Scandinavia enrolled 875 men (age, <76) with locally advanced prostate cancer, no affected nodes or distant metastases, and life expectancy of at least 10 years; patients were randomized to endocrine treatment (an injected luteinizing-hormone–releasing hormone agonist followed by an oral nonsteroidal antiandrogen) with or without maximum-dose radiotherapy.

After a median follow-up of 7.6 years, 8.5% of patients in the combination-treatment group had died of prostate cancer versu…