Monday, May 17, 2004

CASODEX MAY CAUSE LESS BONE LOSS THAN CASTRATION AMONG MEN UNDERGOING ANDROGEN DEPRIVATION FOR PROSTATE CANCER

AstraZeneca Plc's pharmaceutical brand Casodex (bicalutamide) 150 mg may be a useful alternative to castration in terms of bone loss and body composition for men requiring long-term androgen deprivation for prostate cancer, data suggest.

Researchers evaluated 103 subjects with localized or locally advanced prostate cancer who were recommended for immediate androgen deprivation. The study participants were randomly assigned to receive Casodex 150 mg (n=51) or to undergo medical castration with a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analog (n=52) for 96 weeks. Primary outcome measures included the mean percentage change in lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD), hip BMD and fat-free mass (FFM) from baseline to 96 weeks. In addition, the authors studied the mean changes in lipid parameters.

The outcomes revealed that both mean lumbar spine BMD and hip BMD were maintained through 96 weeks of Casodex treatment. However, castration was associated with progressive loss of both lumbar spine BMD (-5.40 percent) and hip BMD (-4.39 percent) at week 96. While no significant difference was detected in the mean percentage change of FFM between the castration and Casodex arms, a trend for greater progressive loss over time was observed with castration.

Although serious adverse events were reported by seven patients (14 percent) in the Casodex arm and nine patients (17.6 percent) in the castration arm, no serious event occurred more than once and none were related to the drug treatment.

These data were presented in the June issue of the Journal of Urology.