The oral 5-alpha reductase inhibitor dutasteride should not be used to prevent progression of low-grade prostate cancers despite apparently favourable trial results, a cancer specialist says.
Published in the Lancet this week, results from a study of more than 300 men undergoing watchful waiting for low-risk prostate cancer suggest that the drug helps reduce progression of the disease and help men avoid the need for radical surgery.
The three year trial, sponsored by dutasteride maker GSK, found that 38% of men taking dutasteride showed progression of cancer compared to 48% of men taking placebo (risk reduction 38%).
However, an accompanying editorial says the findings do not mean that men on active surveillance for prostate cancer should receive dutasteride.
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