EFFECTO DEL DIETILESTILBESTROL SOBRE LA TESTOSTERONA PLASMATICA EN PACIENTES CON ADENOCARCINOMA DE PROSTATA. CORRELACION CON FOSFATASA ACIDA

A study of 60 patients with advanced adenocarcinoma of the prostate was made. They have received endocrine therapy with diethylstilbestrol, 1 and 5 mg daily, for control of their illness. Two main objectives were fixed: To find out the effect which the diethylstilbestrol develops over the plasma testosterone on daily doses of 1 and 5 mg; and to find out the relation between the plasma testosterone levels obtained under treatment and the tumoral activity measured through the serum acid phosphatase and prostatic fraction. The results show that the daily doses of 1 and 5 mg diethylstilbestrol cause a significant statistical decrease of the testosterone levels in relation to the levels obtained before the treatment. The level comparison obtained with both doses apparently show a better hormonal supression with 5 mg daily, but the statistical analysis between both doses was not significant. The correlation between the hormonal levels and serum acid phosphatase activity was positive in the majority of the patients during the initial phase of the treatment but, on the other hand, it was not possible to find a correlation between these elements in those patients in whom low levels of testosterone were detected before the treatment.