Enlarged Prostate Best Treated with Two-Drug Combo

A combination of two drugs is best for treating symptomatic prostate enlargement, Baylor College of Medicine researchers reported. The study by Baylor and 16 other medical centers found that two drugs commonly used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia are about twice as effective in combination than alone to prevent the progression of this condition. The results of the study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, were presented recently at the American Urological Association meeting in Orlando.

"This is a significant discovery for the millions of men who suffer with this disease each year," said Kevin Slawin, M.D., director of Baylor’s Prostate Center and a urologist at The Methodist Hospital. "I feel it is an extremely important study that will change the way physicians treat patients with this disease worldwide."

Baylor led enrollment with more than 200 patients. A total of 3,000 patients, all men over 50, took part in the trial. The study found that compared to a placebo, Proscar (scientific name finasteride, a 5-a reductase inhibitor) and Cardura (scientific name doxazosin, an a-1 receptor blocker) when used together, reduced the risk of the condition’s progression by 67 percent, compared to 39 and 34 percent, respectively, when the drugs were used alone.

An estimated 9 million men suffer from benign prostatic hyperplasia symptoms, and about 400,000 have surgery each year to remove some of the enlarged gland, which impairs the flow of urine through the urethra. The aim of the trial was to prevent the condition’s progression, defined primarily as either a significant worsening of symptoms, recurring urinary tract infection, urinary retention, incontinence or a need for invasive therapy such as surgery.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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