Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 May-Jun;46(3):383-389.
doi: 10.1590/S1677-5538.IBJU.2019.0212.

Efficacy of Leuprorelide acetate (Eligard®) in daily practice in Brazil: a retrospective study with depot formulations in patients with prostate cancer

Carla S M de Freitas  1 , Aleida N Soares  2
Affiliations

Efficacy of Leuprorelide acetate (Eligard®) in daily practice in Brazil: a retrospective study with depot formulations in patients with prostate cancer

Carla S M de Freitas et al. Int Braz J Urol. 2020 May-Jun.

Abstract

Introduction: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the mainstay of therapy for advanced prostate cancer. Studies addressing the efficacy of different depot formulations of long acting luteinizing hormone releasing hormone agonists in the Brazilian population are lacking. We aimed to compare the efficacy of three schedules of leuprolide acetate in lowering PSA in a real world population.

Materials and methods: We reviewed the medical records of patients with prostate cancer seen at our institution between January 2007 and July 2018. We analyzed patients treated with long-acting leuprolide acetate and grouped these patients into three strata according to the administration of ADT every 1, 3 or 6 months. The primary outcome was the serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels at 6 and 12 months after treatment initiation. We used Friedman test to compare the distribution of PSA levels at baseline and at 6 and 12 months within each treatment stratum. We considered two-sided P values < 0.05 as statistically significant. We analyzed toxicity descriptively.

Results: We analyzed a total of 932 patients, with a median age of 72 years and a median time since diagnosis of prostate cancer of 8.5 months. ADT was administered monthly in 115 patients, quarterly in 637, and semiannually in 180. Nearly half of the patients had locally advanced disease. In comparison with baseline, median serum PSA levels were reduced at 12 months by at least 99.7% in the three strata (P < 0.001 in all cases). Sexual impotence and hot flashes were the most frequently reported toxicities.

Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the largest assessment of real-world data on alternative schedules of leuprolide in a Brazilian population. Our study suggests that PSA levels can be effectively be reduced in most patients treated with monthly, quarterly, or semiannual injections of long-acting leuprolide acetate.

Keywords: Prostate-Specific Antigen; Prostatic Neoplasms; agonists [Subheading].

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Median levels of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) in each stratum over time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, et al. Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Int J Cancer. 2015;136:E359–E386. - PubMed
    2. 1. Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R, Eser S, Mathers C, Rebelo M, et al. Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Int J Cancer. 2015;136:E359-86. - PubMed
    1. Taitt HE. Global Trends and Prostate Cancer: A Review of Incidence, Detection, and Mortality as Influenced by Race, Ethnicity, and Geographic Location. Am J Mens Health. 2018;12:1807–1823. - PMC - PubMed
    2. 2. Taitt HE. Global Trends and Prostate Cancer: A Review of Incidence, Detection, and Mortality as Influenced by Race, Ethnicity, and Geographic Location. Am J Mens Health. 2018;12:1807-23. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Center MM, Jemal A, Lortet-Tieulent J, Ward E, Ferlay J, Brawley O, et al. International variation in prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates. Eur Urol. 2012;61:1079–1092. - PubMed
    2. 3. Center MM, Jemal A, Lortet-Tieulent J, Ward E, Ferlay J, Brawley O, et al. International variation in prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates. Eur Urol. 2012;61:1079-92. - PubMed
    1. Sierra MS, Soerjomataram I, Forman D. Prostate cancer burden in Central and South America. Cancer Epidemiol. 2016;44(Suppl 1):S131–S140. - PubMed
    2. 4. Sierra MS, Soerjomataram I, Forman D. Prostate cancer burden in Central and South America. Cancer Epidemiol. 2016;44(Suppl 1):S131-S40. - PubMed
    1. Brasil. Ministério da Saúde Instituto Nacional de Câncer. Informativo Detecção Precoce. Year 8, nr. 2. [Accessed 21 December 2018];Monitoramento das ações de controle do câncer de prostata. 2017 Jul-Dec; Available at. < http://www.saude.df.gov.br/wp-conteudo/uploads/2018/03/Informativo-C%C3%...>.
    2. 5. Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Instituto Nacional de Câncer. Informativo Detecção Precoce. Year 8, nr. 2, July/December 2017. Monitoramento das ações de controle do câncer de prostata. Available at. <http://www.saude.df.gov.br/wp-conteudo/uploads/2018/03/Informativo-C%C3%...> (Accessed 21 December 2018).

LinkOut - more resources