Testosterone therapy in high-risk survivors of prostate cancer

Takeaway

• Low-quality evidence suggests no increased rate of biochemical recurrence (BCR) in survivors of curatively treated high-risk prostate cancer receiving testosterone therapy for testosterone deficiency compared to the expected rate of BCR in high-risk survivors.
• Finding suggests that testosterone therapy may be considered for patients with symptoms of testosterone deficiency.

Why this matters

• No systematic reviews have been published on testosterone therapy in survivors of specifically high-risk prostate cancer.

Study design

• 13 studies involving 608 patients with prostate cancer met eligibility criteria after a search on PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase and Web of Knowledge databases.
• Primary outcome was the risk for BCR.
• Funding:  None disclosed.

Key results

• Of 608 patients, 109 had a history of high-risk prostate cancer.
• There was no significant overall BCR 0.00 (95% CI, 0.00-0.05) rate in survivors of curatively treated high-risk prostate cancer.
• Included studies found small increases in prostate-specific antigen, increases in testosterone, improvements in symptoms of testosterone deficiency and few undesired side effects of therapy.

Limitations

• Small number of patients and studies.
• Risk of bias.