Method for the treatment of prostate cancer

Abstract

A method for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer comprises administering to a patient suffering from advanced prostate cancer an androgen suppressing amount of a luteinizing hormone releasing hormone agonist analog and an amount of calcitriol sufficient to enhance the effectiveness of the luteinizing hormone releasing hormone agonist analog against the cancer relative to treatment with the luteinizing hormone releasing hormone agonist analog alone. Preferably the calcitriol is in the form of a stabilized, injectable solution of calcitriol in isotonic saline containing about 1 to about 30 milligrams per milliliter of calcitriol and a sufficient quantity of nonionic surfactant to solubilize the calcitriol therein. Preferably the a luteinizing hormone releasing hormone agonist analog is a nonapeptide or decapeptide agonist, such as leuprolide, goserelin or salts thereof. The method of the present invention affords a surprisingly improved efficacy for treatment of advanced prostate cancer such as androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC) or hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) in comparison to treatment with a luteinizing hormone releasing hormone agonist analog alone.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.