Monitoring and treatment of minimal residual cancer of the prostate.

In manifest prostatic carcinoma, partial and complete remissions are obtained in 14-44% of patients as judged by different sets of criteria, but in up to 61% as judged by a decrease in prostatic acid phosphatase. Moreover, this decrease is poorly correlated to that of prostatic size. Prostatic acid phosphatase is therefore considered to be a relatively non-specific tumor marker.

Phase II trial with D-Trp-6-LH-RH in prostatic carcinoma: comparison with other hormonal agents.

Various approaches to hormonal treatment of prostate carcinoma are discussed. Eighty-one patients with prostatic carcinoma, eight with stage B, nine with stage C, and 64 with stage D disease, were treated subcutaneously daily for 3 months with the LH-RH agonist D-Trp-6-LH-RH (Decapeptyl) in order to evaluate the incidence of remissions according to WHO recommendations for oncologic trials. The findings were compared to those obtained with other hormonal therapies of prostatic carcinoma according to the statistical method of "expected response rate" as adapted by Lee and Wesley for phase II trials.

[Advanced cancer of the prostate. Treatment with an LH-RH agonist, D-Trp-6-LH-RH].

D-Trp-6-LH-RH, a long acting LH-RH agonist was given in a phase II trial to 85 patients aged 52 to 88 (mean 69) with advanced prostatic carcinoma, stage B (8 pts), C (9 pts) and D (68 pts). Twenty-five patients were previously untreated, 40 had received previous hormonal therapy but none was considered has having hormone resistant tumor; 20 patients had received surgery or radiotherapy or both. D-Trp-6-LH-RH was given s.