A trial looking at intermittent hormone therapy plus immediate or deferred radiotherapy for prostate cancer

Please note this trial is no longer recruiting patients.

This trial is trying to find the best time to start radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer can be treated with a combination of radiotherapy and hormone therapy.

The aim of this trial is to find when, and how to give these treatments to get the best results.

Recruitment

Start 01/06/2000

End 08/11/2006

Phase

Phase 3

Who can enter

You can enter this trial if you:

Are aged over 18
Are well enough for treatment.
Have stage 2 or 3 prostate cancer that has been diagnosed by biopsy OR your cancer has come back in the same area after total prostatectomy
Have no sign of cancer spread
Have had not had radiotherapy for prostate cancer before
Have not had hormone treatment for prostate cancer before

Trial design

This trial is recruiting 200 patients into 2 treatment groups. The trial is randomised. The people taking part are put into the different treatment groups by a computer. Neither you nor your doctor will be able to decide which group you are in.

Patients in both groups will have hormone treatment for 6 months. You will have tablets, and an injection once a month.

Group 1 will start radiotherapy in the second month of taking the hormone tablets.

Group 2 will only have radiotherapy if they develop symptoms that show the cancer is growing (such as difficulty passing urine).

Both groups will have regular PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood tests. If the PSA level rises 3 times in a row after hormone treatment has finished, then you will be offered more hormone treatment.

Hospital visits

If you are having radiotherapy, you will need to go to hospital for treatment each day. There is information about radiotherapy for prostate cancer on CancerHelp UK.

Everyone in the trial will have 3 monthly follow up appointments with their doctor.