OBJECTIVES:
Primary
* Assess the impact of increasing the radiation dose 10 Gy on biochemical or clinical progression-free survival at 5 years in patients with unfavorable-risk prostate cancer receiving prolonged hormone therapy.
Secondary
* Evaluate overall and specific survival.
* Assess acute and late toxicities of different modalities (conformal or intensity-modulated radiotherapy).
* Evaluate toxicities of the different doses with respect to hormonal therapy.
* Assess the quality of life (QLQ-C30 and PR 25).
OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.
* Arm I: Patients undergo 80 Gy of conformal or intensity-modulated radiotherapy 5 times a week for 7-8 weeks.
* Arm II: Patients undergo 70 Gy of conformal or intensity-modulated radiotherapy 5 times a week for 7-8 weeks.
In both arms, patients receive goserelin subcutaneously once every 3 months for up to 3 years.
After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up periodically for 10 years.