Finasteride in Treating Patients With Stage II Prostate Cancer Who Are Undergoing Surgery

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the frequency of discriminating molecular marker expression in Gleason grade (GG) 3 cores, adjusted for Gleason score (GS) at prostatectomy, in patients with stage II prostate cancer treated with neoadjuvant finasteride vs placebo. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the frequency with which grade 3 and grade 4 tumors occur in these patients. II. Determine the frequency of discriminating molecular signature expression in tissue microarray cores segregated by GS at prostatectomy in these patients. III. Compare GG 3-appearing areas (in tumors rated GS 6 at prostatectomy) in patients treated with finasteride vs placebo. IV. Compare GG 3-appearing areas (in tumors rated GS 7 at prostatectomy) in patients treated with finasteride vs placebo. V. Compare GG 4-appearing areas (in tumors rated GS 7 at prostatectomy) in patients treated with finasteride vs placebo. OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to study site, Gleason score (6 vs 7), and type of prostatectomy (open vs robotic/laparoscopic). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. Arm I: Patients receive finasteride orally (PO) once daily (QD) for 4-6 weeks, and then undergo prostatectomy. Arm II: Patients receive placebo PO QD for 4-6 weeks, and then undergo prostatectomy. Tumor tissue obtained at prostatectomy is used to make tissue microarrays and is analyzed by immunohistochemistry for molecular marker expression studies. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up for 30 days.