Corticosteroids have been used in the therapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) for decades, both as monotherapy and in combination with additional agents.
In this article the authors report the results of a phase II trial of dexamethasone versus prednisolone as monotherapy for CRPC. The study suggests improved PSA and radiographic response rates as well as improved time to PSA progression for dexamethasone over prednisolone therapy; however the differences only trend toward statistical significance. Nonetheless, in light of these data, when treating patients with corticosteroid monotherapy for CRPC it may be prudent to consider using daily dexamethasone over prednisone/prednisolone.
Written by:
Holder SL, Drabick J, Zhu J, Joshi M. Are you the author?
Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Cancer Institute, Hershey, PA USA.
Reference: Cancer Biol Ther. 2015 Feb;16(2):207-9.
doi: 10.1080/15384047.2014.1002687
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25756508