Intermittent androgen deprivation in prostate cancer cases with biochemical progression after radical prostatectomy: Are we ready to treat?

Purpose: To evaluate clinical data from published trials on the use of intermittent androgen deprivation (IAD) therapy in patients with biochemical relapse after radical prostatectomy (RP).

Methods: We searched the Medline and Cochrane Library databases for literature published on IAD and biochemical progression after radical prostatectomy.

Results: To date, we have oncological and functional data from phase 3 studies focused on metastatic and locally advanced stages that confirmed IAD as a valid option treatment. For the aim of this review, only Tunn study, was specifically focused on patients who relapsed after surgery but clear and mature results are still missed.

Conclusions: The use of IAD in cases who relapse after RP is common in the clinical practice. Although specific recommendation on the use of IAD in this setting of patients are not available, we concluded that the real benefit of IAD in terms of long survival and quality of life is mainly for patients treated with surgery.