Examining the Role of Neoadjuvant Androgen Deprivation in Patients Undergoing Prostate Brachytherapy

PURPOSE: To assess the role of neoadjuvant androgen deprivation (NAAD) and transperineal interstitial permanent prostate brachytherapy (TIPPB) using a matched-pair analysis selected from a large cohort of patients undergoing TIPPB. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Six hundred twelve consecutive patients with clinically confined prostate cancer were treated between June 1992, and January 1997, with permanent ultrasound-guided TIPPB with either palladium-103 or iodine-125 as monotherapy or combined with external radiation. Patients with prostate glands ≥ 60 g underwent treatment with NAAD before TIPPB to reduce the prostate volume (n = 163). The median duration of NAAD was 3.4 months before TIPPB (range, 1 to 8 months). To assess the benefit of NAAD, a matched-pair analysis was performed. The American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology Consensus Group definition of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) relapse-free survival (RFS) was used with the added caveat of an absolute increase of ≥ 1.0 ng/mL. Differences in pretreatment PSA, Gleason scores, and stage were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier curves and the log-rank test. RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-three patients were matched, with a median follow-up duration of 46 months (range, 24 to 76 months). The actuarial 5-year PSA-RFS rate for all 263 patients is 86.5%. The 5-year PSA-RFS rate for patients treated with NAAD and TIPPB was 87.1% compared with 86.9% for those treated with TIPPB only (P = .935). Subgroup analysis by Gleason score groupings, pretreatment PSA, or stage of disease failed to identify any factors for which androgen ablation was beneficial. CONCLUSION: We were unable to identify any improvement with the addition of NAAD to TIPPB in patients with localized prostate cancer in this retrospective matched-pair analysis. Furthermore, there was no subset for which the addition of NAAD was found to be beneficial. Clarification of the role and duration of NAAD in patients with early-stage prostate cancer will require prospective data.