Re: Use of Androgen Deprivation Therapy for Metastatic Prostate Cancer in Older Men

In this retrospective analysis using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare data, the authors assessed the relationship between androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and overall survival in men diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer over a 10-yr period. They identified 8671 men with metastatic disease at diagnosis and determined whether they received any form of ADT early on (<= 4 mo from diagnosis), delayed (> 4 mo), or not at all. Approximately 70% of men received early ADT and 7.3% received delayed ADT, with about one-fourth never receiving ADT. Apart from finding racial differences for receipt of ADT (black men were twice as likely to receive delayed ADT as white men), the researchers found that ADT was associated with improved survival (adjusted hazard ratio: 0.69). importantly, early and delayed ADT were associated with similar survival (p = 0.58), and after controlling for patient and tumor characteristics, survival did not differ by race.