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Multidisciplinary Management of Prostate Cancer pp 105–117Cite as

Intermittent Androgen Deprivation in the New Era: The Role of Urologist and Oncologist in a Multidisciplinary Team (MDT)

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Abstract

In the last 20 years, the androgen deprivation therapy has large replaced surgical castration. The appeal is the reversibility of androgen deprivation but at the same time this is associated with multiple side effects. This is the reason why there is the concept of intermittent androgen deprivation, based on alternating periods of hormonal therapy and cessation of treatment. The principle of intermittent deprivation therapy is that when a predetermined PSA nadir is reached hormone treatment can be stopped. Treatment is restarted once the PSA rises to a predetermined level or when there is evidence of clinical progression. Numerous phase II and phase III studies in recent years have outlined the main criteria that must be followed during this treatment. Data suggest that intermittent androgen deprivation therapy can produce oncologic results similar to those of continuous androgen deprivation therapy but with potentially better tolerability.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, University Sapienza Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, Rome, 00144, Italy

    Andrea Alfarone & Flavia Longo

Authors
  1. Andrea Alfarone
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  2. Flavia Longo
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Correspondence to Andrea Alfarone .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Urology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

    Vincenzo Gentile

  2. Department of Radiological Sciences, Oncology & Pathology, Sapienza University, Policlinico Umberto I, Latina, Italy

    Valeria Panebianco

  3. Dept. of Urology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

    Alessandro Sciarra

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Alfarone, A., Longo, F. (2014). Intermittent Androgen Deprivation in the New Era: The Role of Urologist and Oncologist in a Multidisciplinary Team (MDT). In: Gentile, V., Panebianco, V., Sciarra, A. (eds) Multidisciplinary Management of Prostate Cancer. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04385-2_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04385-2_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-04384-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-04385-2

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