[Investigation on Clinical Course of Patients after Cessation of Long-Term Successful Hormone Monotherapy for Prostate Cancer].

We investigated the clinical course of patients after cessation of long-term successful hormone monotherapyfor prostate cancer. Studysubjects were ten patients with prostate cancer (localized prostate cancer ; n＝8, prostate cancer with bone metastasis ; n＝2), who had hormone monotherapyfor over seven years, showed no signs of recurrence, and maintained prostatic-specific antigen (PSA) levels of less than the detection sensitivitylimit (＜0.01 ng/ml). The mean duration of hormone therapywas 101.1 months, and the mean duration of follow-up observation from cessation of the therapywas 31.1 months. PSA levels were maintained less than the detection sensitivitylimit in eight patients, and serum testosterone levels were equal to or less than the castration level in seven patients. This studydemonstrated that there were cases that maintained PSA levels of less than the detection sensitivitylimit even after cessation of long-term successful hormone monotherapyfor prostate cancer.