Abstract
Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor blockers (antagonists) are the latest addition to the hormonal therapy armamentarium for patients with prostate cancer. In contrast to the GnRH agonists, GnRH blockers have an immediate onset of action and do not cause an initial surge in testosterone levels that can lead to clinical flare in patients with advanced disease. Degarelix (Firmagon®) is a new GnRH blocker that has recently been approved by the EMEA and US FDA for the treatment of men with hormone-sensitive advanced prostate cancer. In this article, we briefly review the Phase III trial data for degarelix 240/80 mg (licensed dose) versus leuprolide 7.5 mg that led to these recent approvals.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The CS21 trial was sponsored by Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Laurent Boccon-Gibod and Peter Iversen are paid advisors to Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Bo-Eric Persson is an employee of Ferring Pharmaceuticals. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
Writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript. Medical writing support (funded by Ferring Pharmaceuticals) was provided by Dawn Batty from Bioscript Stirling Ltd.