CELLULAR-CHANGES IN PROSTATIC-CARCINOMA AFTER TREATMENT WITH ORCHIECTOMY, ESTRAMUSTINE PHOSPHATE AND MEDROXYPROGESTERONE ACETATE

Thirty-three patients with prostatic carcinoma were treated with eithe r estramustine phosphate, orchidectomy or high dose medroxyprogesteron e acetate. Therapy response was evaluated by cytological examination o f fine needle aspiration biopsies performed before and after 6 weeks t reatment. At follow-up, 11 of 14 patients treated with estramustine ph osphate had regressive and/or degenerative changes, in 2 patients ther e were no prostatic carcinoma cells in the smears and in one there was a marked reduction of the number of tumour cells. In 7 of 10 patients treated with orchidectomy there was a marked reduction of the percent age of malignant cells while smears from 3 patients were unchanged. In the 8 patients treated with high dose medroxyprogesterone acetate the cell patterns were unmodified compared with before treatment. We conc lude that, in contrast to the lack of effect of treatment with medroxy progesterone acetate, treatment with orchidectomy and especially estra mustine phosphate caused morphologic cellular changes in prostatic car cinoma.