This is a summary of a research article originally published in the Journal of Urology. The PROSPER study involved men who had a type of advanced
prostate cancer called non-metastatic
castration-resistant
prostate cancer (nmCRPC). In patients with nmCRPC, their
prostate cancer keeps growing even after traditional
hormone treatments. In these patients, rising
prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels suggest that
cancer is active but CT and bone scans show that it has not spread to other parts of the body. Everyone in this study received
androgen deprivation
therapy (ADT) either with the medicine
enzalutamide or a placebo.
Enzalutamide is a medicine that can slow or stop
androgens, such as
testosterone, from making
prostate cancer grow. The main results of the PROSPER study showed that patients with nmCRPC treated with
enzalutamide and ADT lived longer than patients treated with placebo and ADT. In this study, researchers wanted to know if the findings were different depending on how much patients' PSA level declined after
enzalutamide treatment. Researchers also wanted to know if this made a difference in how long patients lived without the
cancer spreading to other parts of their body.
WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?: This study shows a link between PSA level changes and how long patients with nmCRPC live when treated with
enzalutamide and ADT. These results may help health professionals monitor patients with different PSA level changes after
enzalutamide treatment. Patients with a large decline in PSA level may not need to be monitored as closely as patients with a small decline in PSA level.