Reduction in the Risk of Prostate Cancer: Future Directions After the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial
Received 8 January 2009; accepted 17 May 2009. published online 25 December 2009.
The landmark Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) generated interest in the potential health benefits and cost of reducing prostate cancer risk—specifically, the potential role of 5α-reductase inhibitors. However, the PCPT raised several unanswered questions, including the cause and significance of the increased incidence of high-grade tumors associated with finasteride. In the present study, we review the PCPT findings and unanswered questions, next steps in this field, and ongoing prostate cancer prevention trials addressing these unanswered questions. Particular emphasis is placed on the design of the second large-scale trial of a 5α-reductase inhibitor, the REduction by DUtasteride of prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) trial.
aDepartment of Urologic Oncology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado
bDivision of Urologic Surgery, Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri
cDepartment of Urology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
dBiomedical Data Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Reprint requests: E. David Crawford, MD, Division of Urologic Oncology, Departments of Surgery, Urology and Radiation Oncology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Mail Stop #F710, PO Box #6510, Aurora, CO 80045
Medical writing support in the preparation of this manuscript was provided by Katherine Carpenter and was funded by GlaxoSmithKline.
ABSTRACT