ASCO Practice Guidelines for Initial Hormonal Management of Prostate Cancer

A multidisciplinary group of uro-oncologists recently updated the 2004 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines for initial use of androgen-deprivation therapy for patients with metastatic, recurrent, or progressive prostate cancer. The investigators performed a detailed literature search framed around five questions:

1. What are the standard initial treatment options?

2. Are antiandrogens as effective as other castration therapies?

3. Is combined androgen blockade better than castration alone?

4. Does early androgen-deprivation therapy lead to better outcomes than does deferred therapy?

5. Is intermittent androgen-deprivation therapy better than continuous androgen-deprivation therapy?

The investigators evaluated data from seven r…