Testosterone bounce predicts favorable prognoses for prostate cancer patients treated with degarelix.

BACKGROUND: To clarify the clinical roles of changes in testosterone (T) levels with a cut-off level of 20 ng/dL as predictive factors for prostate cancer patients treated with degarelix acetate. METHODS: A total of 120 prostate cancer patients who received hormone therapies with gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist degarelix acetate were retrospectively analyzed. The predictive values of nadir T levels, max T levels, T bounce, and other clinical factors were evaluated for overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and progression-free survival (PFS). T bounce was defined as satisfying both nadir serum T levels of <20 ng/dL and max serum T levels of ≥20 ng/dL during hormone therapies. RESULTS: In 120 prostate cancer patients, 16 (13%) patients did not achieve nadir T < 20 ng/dL, and 76 (63%) patients had max T ≥ 20 ng/dL. The median times to nadir T and max T are 108 and 312 days, respectively. T bounce was shown in 60 (50%) patients and is associated with favorable prognoses both for OS (p = 0.0019) and CSS (p = 0.0013) but not for PFS (p = 0.92). While in the subgroup analyses of the patients with the progression of the first-line hormone therapies, T bounce predicts favorable OS (p = 0.0015) and CSS (p = 0.0013) after biochemical recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed that T bounce with cut-off levels of 20 ng/dL is a promising biomarker that predicts OS and CSS for prostate cancer patients treated with degarelix acetate.

Upfront Androgen Receptor-Axis-Targeted Therapies in Men with De Novo High-Volume Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer.

PURPOSE: The extent of effectiveness of upfront androgen receptor-axis-targeted therapies (ARAT) versus total androgen blockade (TAB) in improving prostate cancer-specific survival (CSS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in a real-world sample of Japanese patients with high-volume mHSPC remains unclear. We, therefore, investigated the efficacy and safety of upfront ARAT versus bicalutamide for de novo high-volume mHSPC in Japanese patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a multicenter retrospective study that analyzed CSS, clinical PFS, and adverse events (AEs) in 170 patients with newly diagnosed high-volume mHSPC. Fifty-six patients were treated with upfront ARAT, and 114 of them were prescribed bicalutamide in addition to ADT between January 2018 and March 2021. The primary and secondary endpoints were CSS and PFS, respectively. A 1:1 nearest neighbor propensity score matching (PSM) with a caliper of 0.2 was performed to match the ARAT group to TAB patients. RESULTS: During the follow-up for a median of 21.5 months, the median CSS was not reached and 37 months in the upfront ARAT and total androgen blockade (TAB) groups, respectively (log-rank test: P = 0.006) by propensity score matching (PSM). Moreover, while the PFS of ARAT was unreached, the median PFS of TAB was 9 months (log-rank test: P < 0.001). Nine patients discontinued ARAT owing to grade ≥ 3 AEs; one patient who was treated with TAB had a grade 3 AE. CONCLUSION: Upfront ARAT significantly prolonged the CSS and PFS of patients with high-volume mHSPC better than TAB, although ARAT was associated with a higher rate of grade ≥ 3 AEs. Upfront ARAT can be more beneficial for patients with de novo high-volume mHSPC than TAB.

[Use of EUS-FNA in the diagnosis of hilar schwannoma:a case report].

Upon abdominal ultrasonography, a woman in her 36 years old was diagnosed with a hypoechoic tumor with a diameter of 60mm surrounding the bile duct in the hepatic portal region. Abdominal computed tomography and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography revealed a tumor-like mass in the bile duct. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) confirmed the diagnosis of schwannoma. Considering the lesion location, it appeared to rise from the hepatoduodenal ligament. She was unwilling to undergo tumor resection;however, a year after the diagnosis, no change was observed in the tumor. Here, we report a case of schwannoma in the hepatoduodenal ligament, wherein EUS-FNA was useful for establishing a diagnosis and determining a treatment strategy.

Duration of androgen deprivation therapy and nadir of testosterone at 20 ng/dL predict testosterone recovery to supracastrate level in prostate cancer patients who received external beam radiotherapy.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the predictors of testosterone recovery after termination of androgen deprivation therapy in high/intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients receiving external beam radiation therapy with neoadjuvant and adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy. METHODS: A total of 82 patients who underwent external beam radiation therapy with androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer were retrospectively analyzed. Serum testosterone levels after androgen deprivation therapy terminations were studied. Cox proportional hazard models and the Kaplan-Meier method were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Median age, baseline testosterone, nadir testosterone and duration of androgen deprivation therapy were 73 years, 456 ng/dL, 16 ng/dL and 26 months, respectively. Androgen deprivation therapy duration of 33 months (hazard ratio 0.13; P = 0.0018), nadir testosterone of 20 ng/dL (hazard ratio 0.35; P = 0.0112) and testosterone >50 ng/dL at 6 months after androgen deprivation therapy termination (hazard ratio 0.21; P = 0.0075) were significantly associated with testosterone recovery to normal levels (200 ng/dL) on multivariate analysis. Androgen deprivation therapy duration of 33 months (hazard ratio 0.31; P = 0.0023) and nadir testosterone of 20 ng/dL (hazard ratio 0.38; P = 0.0012) were significantly associated with testosterone recovery to the supracastrate level (50 ng/dL) on multivariate analysis. After dividing patients into three risk groups, the rate of testosterone recovery to the normal level after 2 years of androgen deprivation therapy termination was 100% in the low-risk group versus 20.8% in the high-risk group (P < 0.0001); the rate of testosterone recovery to the supracastrate level was 100% in the low-risk group versus 51.5% in the high-risk group (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Duration of androgen deprivation therapy and achievement of nadir testosterone 20 ng/dL both predict testosterone recovery to the supracastrate level in prostate cancer patients undergoing external beam radiation therapy with androgen deprivation therapy.

Testosterone Reduction of ≥ 480 ng/dL Predicts Favorable Prognosis of Japanese Men With Advanced Prostate Cancer Treated With Androgen-Deprivation Therapy.

INTRODUCTION: Reductions in testosterone concentration play a significant role in the treatment of prostate cancer. We studied the role of testosterone as a prognostic marker for advanced prostate cancer (stage C or higher) treated with primary androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 348 patients were treated using ADT as first-line therapy for prostate cancer at Chiba University Hospital between 1999 and 2016. Of these, 222 patients with advanced prostate cancer (stage C or higher) were enrolled onto this study. The prognostic values of serum testosterone level and other clinical factors were evaluated in association with prostate-specific antigen (PSA), progression-free survival during first-line therapy, and overall survival. RESULTS: Median age was 73 years. PSA at baseline was 86 ng/mL. Gleason scores of ≤ 6, 7, 8, and ≥ 9 were seen in 2.3%, 19.4%, 21.2%, and 41.9%, respectively. Mean follow-up was 60.5 months. Median testosterone at baseline was 482 ng/dL and nadir testosterone was 13 ng/dL. No variable associated with testosterone predicted progression-free survival. With regard to overall survival, multivariate analysis identified nadir testosterone ≤ 20 ng/dL (hazard ratio = 0.44, P = .026) and testosterone reduction ≥ 480 ng/dL (hazard ratio = 0.35, P = .030) as independent prognostic factors. With regard to progression-free survival, multivariate analysis identified nadir PSA ≤ 0.1 ng/mL (hazard ratio = 3.07, P < .001), presence of lymph node metastasis (hazard ratio = 1.67, P = .017), and time to nadir PSA (hazard ratio = 0.30, P < .001) as independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSION: Our data suggested both nadir testosterone (< 20 ng/dL; P = .026) and testosterone reduction (≥ 480 ng/dL; P = .030) to be key prognostic factors for primary ADT in advanced prostate cancer in Japanese men.