Ist das Testosteron-Management beim fortgeschrittenen hormonsensitiven Prostatakarzinom zeitgemäß?

Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is the standard therapy used for advanced or metastatic prostate cancer, either alone or in association with additional procedures and substances. The optimum value of testosterone postulated more than 40 years ago was arbitrarily set to be < 50 ng/dL or < 1.7 nmol/L and, from today's perspective, was defined by more insensitive measurement methods. Since then, more and more data has been generated, suggesting that a value of < 20 ng/dL would be prognostically relevant. Yet no guideline has been changed so far despite the call for lowering the target value. Measuring testosterone to evaluate the response to androgen suppression is not yet established in clinical routine. There are no specific recommendations in national and international guidelines. Based on the evolving evidence, the question about testosterone management during ADT is gaining importance. The current data is summarised in this paper.