Thalidomide for advanced prostate cancer

27 January 2009

The Journal of Urology trailed the publication of a study which finds in favour of thalidomide for men with advanced prostate cancer who are being treated with intermittend hormone therapy (ADT).  Reports of the study appeared in several national newspapers.

The study itself was published in March 2009;  you can read the PubMed abstract.  is not yet available in online databases, so we cannot pass comment on its quality as yet.  However, some links you may find useful in investigating the background to this story are:

We note from the abstract that the crossover RCT design is a good method for determining the efficacy of treatment.  We would want to examine the study in detail to determine the randomisation methods, blinding, washout periods and how the primary outcome (PSA progression) was defined. 

The abstract states that the improvement in delay of PSA progression for the thalidomide group was not statistically significant for the first period of teh trial (prior to crossover), but it was significantly better after crossover.  This suggests the study may not have included enough participants to produce a clear result.

Page last edited: 02 October 2011