Brachytherapy, or Transperineal implantation of the prostate (TPIP), is a recognized form of treatment for localized cancer of the prostate. TPIP has been used at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) since 1998. As part of the treatment, some patients also require hormone therapy for 6 months. This is given as injections of a drug called an LHRH agonist. The LHRH agonist is made either as short-acting (1-month) or long-acting (3 month) injections. The LHRH agonist lowers testosterone levels, which helps make delivery of TPIP easier, and more effective. There are specific guidelines regarding the use of LHRH agonist treatment with brachytherapy, however there is no policy whether short-acting or long-acting LHRH agonists should be used. Analysis of results from BC has shown that there seems to be a delay in the time in which testosterone levels return to normal in men who receive the long-acting LHRH agonist compared with the short-acting LHRH agonist, however this is not known for sure.
Sex
MALE
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The primary objective of this study is the median time to testosterone recovery in patients receiving 6 X 1-month or 2 X 3-month LHrH preparations and TPIP as radical treatment for limited stage prostate cancer.
Timeframe: 6 months
In this context, testosterone recovery is defined as the return to the lower limit of normal for the patient's age group as well as return to pre treatment levels.