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Six-month gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist depots provide efficacy, safety, convenience, and comfort

Authors Crawford ED , Phillips JM

Published 20 July 2011 Volume 2011:3 Pages 201—209

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/CMAR.S12700

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 5



E David Crawford, Jason M Phillips
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Aurora, CO, USA

Abstract: Two different 6-month GnRH agonist depot formulations approved for palliative treatment of advanced and metastatic prostate cancer in the United States – leuprolide acetate 45 mg and triptorelinpalmoate 22.5 mg – provide patients with efficacy and safety comparable to those of existing 1-, 3-, and 4-month GnRH agonist depots. However, the 6-month formulations can increase patient convenience, comfort, and compliance by reducing the number of physician visits and injections required. At the conclusion of their pivotal trials, the 6-month formulations demonstrated efficacy rates in achieving chemical castration (serum testosterone #50 ng/dL) that ranged between 93% and 99%. As with existing GnRH agonist depot formulations, hot flashes represented the most common adverse event reported in trials of 6-month leuprolide acetate or triptorelin. As such, these products may prove useful not only for their labeled indication, but also as adjuncts to other treatments such as radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. We recommend further research, including head-to-head trials between the 6-month GnRH depots, to refine our understanding of these products.

Keywords: prostate cancer, leuprorelin, leuprolide, triptorelin, 6-month depot, testosterone

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