Luteinizing-hormone Releasing Hormone Therapy and the Risk of Death From Alzheimer Disease

Purpose: We evaluated the risk of death from Alzheimer disease (AD) in men with prostate cancer undergoing treatment with or without a luteinizing-hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist. Methods: Between 1997 and 2007, 6,647 men were treated with brachytherapy for prostate cancer with (N = 1,700) or without (N = 4,947) LHRH agonist therapy. Competing risks multivariable regression was performed to assess whether the use of a LHRH agonist was associated with the risk of death from AD adjusting for the presence of mild AD and age at presentation and known prostate cancer prognostic factors. Results: After a median follow-up of 4.1 years, 1.2% (81/6,647) of the study cohort died from AD accounting for 16% (81/506) of all observed mortality. There was a significant reduction in the risk of death from AD in men who were treated with a LHRH agonist for a median of 4.0 months as compared with those who were not [adjusted hazard ratio: 0.45 (95% confidence interval, 0.25-0.83); P = 0.01]. Conclusions: LHRH agonist use as compared with no use in men with prostate cancer was associated with a decreased risk of death from AD.