• Sandhir Kandola, Nicola Anyamene, Heather Payne, and Stephen Harland.
• Oncology Department, University College Hospital, London, UK.
• BJU Int. 2007 Jan 1; 99 (1): 53-5.

ObjectiveTo compare transdermal oestrogen with oral diethylstilbestrol (DES) as a second- or third-line hormonal therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer.Patients And MethodsIn all, 32 assessable patients who, having already had a relapse on at least one line of hormonal therapy, received transdermal oestrogen therapy as an alternative to oral DES, when DES became unavailable.ResultsWhereas DES had controlled the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level for a median of 29 weeks in a group of 15 patients in remission, all but one had an increase in PSA level (median 86% increase above the starting PSA level) within a median of 8 weeks after introducing transdermal therapy. This increase was reversed in seven of the 12 patients who recommenced DES therapy.ConclusionAlthough the use of transdermal oestrogen is currently attracting enthusiasm as a first-line treatment for prostate cancer, these results show that for second- or third-line therapy further cautious research with careful monitoring is necessary.

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