Conclusions
The present study reported the unanticipated short survival after AA in chemo-naïve patient outside clinical trial setting. The overall survival was particularly short in those with visceral diseases, and further clinical trial for AA in this subgroup of patients is warranted. In contrast, AA was well tolerated and efficacious in mCRPC patients with prior chemotherapy. AA resulted in comparable pain control in both groups of patients. PSA response, in particular present within the first 3 months after AA, could serve as a prognostic biomarker for survival outcome and may have a potential role in selecting patients for additional or alternative treatment earlier in future clinical trial.
Abbreviations
AA: abiraterone acetate; ADT: androgen deprivation therapy; AR: androgen receptor; mCRPC: metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer; PCWG-2: Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Working Group; PSA: prostate-specific antigen; PSA-DT: PSA doubling time.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank Ms Lee-Wai Yee, Dr. Leung-Sing Fai and Dr. Michael Kam for their input and contributions to the study.
Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate
The study was approved by the institutional review board of the authors' institutions (Joint Chinese University of Hong Kong – New Territories East Cluster Clinical Research Ethics Committee/Ref no: CRE-2015.481). Informed consent has been exempted by the review board as most of the patients in this study were dead when the data was collected.
BMC Urol. 2016;16(12) © 2016 BioMed Central, Ltd.