Prostate news article, April 2009

BONE EFFECTS OF ADT 'NOT OFTEN DISCUSSED WITH PATIENTS', STUDY INDICATES.   Reported by:   Professor Roger Kirby, Chairman, Prostate UK

MedWire (March 5th, Davenport) reported that findings from a Canadian study suggest that "bone-specific adverse effects of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) are discussed with only a minority of prostate cancer patients, with few men receiving recommended lifestyle and drug interventions."

In BJU International, researchers "assessed whether clinicians follow recommendations to discuss the bone-specific adverse effects of ADT with patients or prescribe lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions for low BMD" by studying "66 men...who had non-metastatic prostate cancer and had started continuous ADT." They found that "lifestyle interventions were recommended to 11 percent of patients at six months, while pharmacologic interventions such as calcium, vitamin D, and/or bisphosphonates were recommended to 18 percent of patients overall, and 26 percent of osteopenic and 67 percent of osteoporotic patients specifically."

In their report, researchers concluded, "There is a need to address these deficits through increased awareness, creation and implementation of high-quality clinical practice guidelines, and increased referral of patients to endocrinologists and osteoporosis clinics."