Radiation with or without Antiandrogen Therapy in Recurrent Prostate Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Salvage radiation therapy is often necessary in men who have undergone radical prostatectomy and have evidence of prostate-cancer recurrence signaled by a persistently or recurrently elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. Whether antiandrogen therapy with radiation therapy will further improve cancer control and prolong overall survival is unknown. METHODS: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted from 1998 through 2003, we assigned 760 eligible patients who had undergone prostatectomy with a lymphadenectomy and had disease, as assessed on pathological testing, with a tumor stage of T2 (confined to the prostate but with a positive surgical margin) or T3 (with histologic extension beyond the prostatic capsule), no nodal involvement, and a detectable PSA level of 0.2 to 4.0 ng per milliliter to undergo radiation therapy and receive either antiandrogen therapy (24 months of bicalutamide at a dose of 150 mg daily) or daily placebo tablets during and after radiation therapy. The primary end point was the rate of overall survival. RESULTS: The median follow-up among the surviving patients was 13 years. The actuarial rate of overall survival at 12 years was 76.3% in the bicalutamide group, as compared with 71.3% in the placebo group (hazard ratio for death, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.59 to 0.99; P=0.04). The 12-year incidence of death from prostate cancer, as assessed by means of central review, was 5.8% in the bicalutamide group, as compared with 13.4% in the placebo group (P<0.001). The cumulative incidence of metastatic prostate cancer at 12 years was 14.5% in the bicalutamide group, as compared with 23.0% in the placebo group (P=0.005). The incidence of late adverse events associated with radiation therapy was similar in the two groups. Gynecomastia was recorded in 69.7% of the patients in the bicalutamide group, as compared with 10.9% of those in the placebo group (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The addition of 24 months of antiandrogen therapy with daily bicalutamide to salvage radiation therapy resulted in significantly higher rates of long-term overall survival and lower incidences of metastatic prostate cancer and death from prostate cancer than radiation therapy plus placebo. (Funded by the National Cancer Institute and AstraZeneca; RTOG 9601 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00002874 .).

A phase II study of conventional radiation therapy and thalidomide for supratentorial, newly-diagnosed glioblastoma (RTOG 9806).

The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) initiated the single-arm, phase II study 9806 to determine the safety and efficacy of daily thalidomide with radiation therapy in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Patients were treated with thalidomide (200 mg daily) from day one of radiation therapy, increasing by 100-200 to 1,200 mg every 1-2 weeks until tumor progression or unacceptable toxicity. The median survival time (MST) of all 89 evaluable patients was 10 months. When compared with the historical database stratified by recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) class, this end point was not different [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.18; 95 % CI: 0.95-1.46; P = 0.93]. The MST of RPA class III and IV patients was 13.9 versus 12.5 months in controls (HR = 0.99; 95 % CI: 0.73-1.36; P = 0.48), and 4.3 versus 8.6 months in RPA class V controls (HR = 1.63, 95 % CI: 1.17-2.27; P = 0.99). In all, 34 % of patients discontinued thalidomide because of adverse events or refusal. The most common grade 3-4 toxicities were venous thrombosis, fatigue, skin reactions, encephalopathy, and neuropathy. In conclusion, thalidomide given simultaneously with radiation therapy was safe, but did not improve survival in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

A Phase 3 Trial of 2 Years of Androgen Suppression and Radiation Therapy With or Without Adjuvant Chemotherapy for High-Risk Prostate Cancer: Final Results of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Phase 3 Randomized Trial NRG Oncology RTOG 9902.

PURPOSE: Long-term (LT) androgen suppression (AS) with radiation therapy (RT) is a standard treatment of high-risk, localized prostate cancer (PCa). Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 9902 was a randomized trial testing the hypothesis that adjuvant combination chemotherapy (CT) with paclitaxel, estramustine, and oral etoposide plus LT AS plus RT would improve overall survival (OS). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients with high-risk PCa (prostate-specific antigen 20-100 ng/mL and Gleason score [GS] ≥ 7 or clinical stage ≥ T2 and GS ≥ 8) were randomized to RT and AS (AS + RT) alone or with adjuvant CT (AS + RT + CT). CT was given as four 21-day cycles, delivered beginning 28 days after 70.2 Gy of RT. AS was given as luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone for 24 months, beginning 2 months before RT plus an oral antiandrogen for 4 months before and during RT. The study was designed based on a 6% improvement in OS from 79% to 85% at 5 years, with 90% power and a 2-sided alpha of 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 397 patients (380 eligible) were randomized. The patients had high-risk PCa, 68% with GS 8 to 10 and 34% T3 to T4 tumors, and median prostate-specific antigen of 22.6 ng/mL. The median follow-up period was 9.2 years. The trial closed early because of excess thromboembolic toxicity in the CT arm. The 10-year results for all randomized patients revealed no significant difference between the AS + RT and AS + RT + CT arms in OS (65% vs 63%; P=.81), biochemical failure (58% vs 54%; P=.82), local progression (11% vs 7%; P=.09), distant metastases (16% vs 14%; P=.42), or disease-free survival (22% vs 26%; P=.61). CONCLUSIONS: NRG Oncology RTOG 9902 showed no significant differences in OS, biochemical failure, local progression, distant metastases, or disease-free survival with the addition of adjuvant CT to LT AS + RT. The trial results provide valuable data regarding the natural history of high-risk PCa treated with LT AS + RT and have implications for the feasibility of clinical trial accrual and tolerability using CT for PCa.

Phase III multi-institutional trial of adjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel, estramustine, and oral etoposide combined with long-term androgen suppression therapy and radiotherapy versus long-term androgen suppression plus radiotherapy alone for high-risk prostate cancer: preliminary toxicity analysis of RTOG 99-02.

PURPOSE: Long-term androgen suppression plus radiotherapy (AS+RT) is standard treatment of high-risk prostate cancer. A randomized trial, Radiation Therapy Oncology Group trial 9902, was undertaken to determine whether adjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel, estramustine, and etoposide (TEE) plus AS+RT would improve disease outcomes with acceptable toxicity. METHODS AND MATERIALS: High-risk (prostate-specific antigen 20-100 ng/mL and Gleason score >or=7; or Stage T2 or greater, Gleason score 8, prostate-specific antigen level <100 ng/mL) nonmetastatic prostate cancer patients were randomized to AS+RT (Arm 1) vs. AS+RT plus four cycles of TEE (Arm 2). TEE was delivered 4 weeks after RT. AS continued for 2 years for both treatment arms. RT began after 8 weeks of AS began. RESULTS: The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 9902 trial opened January 11, 2000. Excess thromboembolic toxicity was noted, leading to study closure October 4, 2004. A total of 397 patients were accrued, and the data for 381 were analyzable. An acute and long-term toxicity analysis was performed. The worst overall toxicities during treatment were increased for Arm 2. Of the 192 patients, 136 (71%) on Arm 2 had RTOG Grade 3 or greater toxicity compared with 70 (37%) of 189 patients on Arm 1. Statistically significant increases in hematologic toxicity (p < 0.0001) and gastrointestinal toxicity (p = 0.017) but not genitourinary toxicity (p = 0.07) were noted during treatment. Two Grade 5 complications related to neutropenic infection occurred in Arm 2. Three cases of myelodysplasia/acute myelogenous leukemia were noted in Arm 2. At 2 and 3 years after therapy completion, excess long-term toxicity was not observed in Arm 2. CONCLUSION: TEE was associated with significantly increased toxicity during treatment. The toxicity profiles did not differ at 2 and 3 years after therapy. Toxicity is an important consideration in the design of trials using adjuvant chemotherapy for prostate cancer.