Firmagon (Degarelix) Intermittent Therapy

Men with localized prostate cancer requiring intermittent androgen deprivation therapy for biochemical recurrence following radical therapy will be asked to participate in a phase 4 safety and efficacy clinical trial comparing 10 months versus 4 months of degarelix (Firmagon®) therapy with the endpoint of prolonging the off treatment interval.

This is an open-label, multi-centre, randomised trial with subjects receiving subcutaneous (s.c.) monthly injections of degarelix depot. All patients will be treated with a one-month starting dose of 240mg on Day 0. Subjects are then randomized to receive either nine or three maintenance doses of one month duration. The primary objective is to determine the effect of degarelix therapy on the length of the off treatment interval (defined as serum Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) increasing to 5 ng/ml) following completion of the androgen deprivation therapy. The trial will also assess the effect of degarelix therapy on PSA kinetics (specifically PSA doubling time), PSA nadir, and effect on quality of life as well as other measures. The efficacy and safety of these two treatments will also be reported.