Benefits, Risks With EBRT Plus SADT in Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer

Though some factors like sexual function may be negatively affected, the addition of short-term neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (SADT) may increase quality of life (QOL) for patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer (IRPC), according to an oncologist.

Barry Goy, MD, spoke with Oncology Nursing News about possible adverse effects of SADT at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, where his research on external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) in conjunction with SADT was presented.

Goy explained some of the benefits and risks of EBRT and SADT, including alleviating some of the mental burden of a decreased QOL with IRPC. While it may not always be cost-efficient for patients with intermediate or lower risk, he said it may be beneficial for those living with IRPC. Goy is a radiation oncologist at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.

Transcript

You always ask the patients in regards to their sexual function. Some patients are still very active, although, for most patients, though, when they have recurrence, it tends to be years later from their initial treatment, so things have changed, maybe, and it may not be as important to them.

So, you know, putting patients on salvage [androgen deprivation therapy] does have some side effects, although by and large, usually it's fairly tolerable.

And the other consideration is a mental consideration, psychologic consideration, because some patients are extremely nervous about their PSA recurrence. So some patients we wind up treating just because mentally, their quality of life goes down…even though it may not kill them.

I don't know if that's the most cost-effective treatment for patients with recurrent prostate cancer, but…those are some of the considerations that I take into account.

This transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.