Degarelix

Prostate Cancer Drug Reduces Testosterone Levels In As Little As Three Days Without Initial Hormone Surge is a Science Daily article. The article discusses benefits of degarelix, a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist and new weapon in the war against prostate cancer. It is new and its use is intended to cause a rapid fall in testosterone. Similar therapies have been known to cause an initial rise in testosterone level prior to it declining. The initial upswing is the concern for it is counterproductive to the cancer therapy. Degarelix does not appear to entail this disadvantage.

The study on which the article reports indicates another advantage of degarelix namely, fewer urinary tract infections among patients participating in the study compared with another (leuprolide) group. Degarelix consequently may be substituted for the drug leuprolide in the near future. It looks as if degarelix reduces PSA levels and testosterone without the disadvantage of an initial testosterone surge.