Should we follow-up serum testosterone in patients with advanced prostate cancer?

Agonistic analogs of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormones are indicated for the palliative treatment of metastatic prostate cancer. While the prognostic role of prostate-specific antigen in patients submitted to androgen-deprivation therapy has been extensively investigated in these patients, there is no consensus about the utility of serum testosterone measurements during follow-up and about their possible prognostic value. Recent reports have shown that testosterone levels might be directly related to survival and risk of death. These results need to be confirmed by further prospective studies. Given this concept, lowering testosterone as much as possible should be the goal of androgen-deprivation therapy in patients with metastatic prostate cancer, as this may have an impact on patient survival.