Preliminary data suggest that a new twist on manipulating hormones in
prostate cancer shows some benefit. The standard approach to treatment
is androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), but the new approach intersperses
this with bipolar androgen therapy (BAT) with intramuscular
testosterone injections.
Results from a small phase 2 study in 29
men with advanced hormone-sensitive prostate cancer show that the
primary endpoint was met, with nearly 60% of men achieving a
prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level <4 ng/mL after undergoing two
cycles of BAT.
The findings, which were presented at Genitourinary
Cancers Symposium (GUCS) 2016, also suggest that BAT may have a
positive impact on quality of life.
"The name 'bipolar' comes from
the fact that this therapy is designed to produce fluctuations in
testosterone levels, from very low lows in the androgen deprivation
period to very high highs after they get intramuscular testosterone
injections," said lead author Michael T. Schweizer, MD, of the
University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle.
This
approach, in which prostate cancer cells are alternately exposed to
very high and very low levels of testosterone over 4 weeks, has
previously been shown to have some clinical benefit.
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