Etoricoxib and intermittent androgen deprivation therapy in patients with biochemical progression after radical prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVES

To verify whether in patients with biochemical progression after radical prostatectomy (RRP), the administration of a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor during the off-phases of intermittent androgen deprivation (IAD) may increase the effectiveness and off-therapy time of intermittent therapy.

METHODS

This is a comparative, prospective study. A total of 44 patients with biochemical progression after RRP were included in a clinical protocol for IAD once prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels progressed over 0.4 ng/mL. The 44 cases were randomly assigned to receive two different treatment strategies: group A received IAD therapy using bicalutamide 150 mg once daily in the on-phases and no therapy in the off-phases; group B received IAD therapy using bicalutamide 150 mg once daily in the on-phases and etoricoxib 60 mg once daily in the off-phases.

RESULTS

Median follow-up was 62 weeks. In group A 5 of 22 (22.7%) cases and in group B 2 of 22 (9.1%) cases failed to respond to IAD (P >0.05). Comparing the two groups, in all three cycles of IAD the time of the cycles and the time of the off-phases were significantly (P <0.0001) longer in group B than in group A. The highest PSA value reached during the off-phases in each cycle was significantly (P <0.001) lower in group B than in group A. Withdrawal from treatment owing to side effects was not necessary in any of the 44 patients.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with biochemical progression after RRP, we showed that the use of a COX-2 inhibitor in the off-phases of IAD is able to increase the off-treatment time significantly.