Can endocrine drug treatment for prostate cancer patients be interrupted or stopped?

Generally, prostate cancer patients who need endocrine therapy are mostly locally advanced or metastatic cases. The principle of endocrine therapy is to use drugs to reduce the level of male hormones in the patient's body, thereby preventing the proliferation and development of prostate cancer cells. However, studies have shown that some prostate cancer cells can still survive when the androgen level is very low.

Some tumor cells with a higher degree of malignancy will continue to develop. This is the main reason why some prostate cancer patients will still have recurrence or even progression of their disease on the basis of endocrine therapy. Therefore, in this case, once endocrine therapy is interrupted or stopped, some prostate cancer patients will soon experience a rebound increase in PSA levels, indicating that some tumor cells have re-entered an active development state, which significantly increases the threat to the patient's prognosis.

In our clinical work, we have also observed that some patients delayed or stopped endocrine drug treatment due to the epidemic and other reasons. In subsequent follow-up visits, it was indeed found that the disease had progressed. Therefore, for prostate cancer patients who receive regular endocrine therapy, it is generally not recommended to interrupt or stop endocrine therapy.