Side Effects of LHRH

According to the American Cancer Society, LHRH, or luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone, is a type of medical hormonal therapy. It is used in the treatment of prostate cancer. The goal of treatment with LHRH is to make prostate cancers grow more slowly or shrink them altogether. It is also an option to an orchiectomy (testicle removal). With its advantages come disadvantages and side effects.

History

• According to the ACS, in the 1940's doctors thought all testosterone was produced in the testicles. As a result, an orchiectomy was the treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. In the 1960's doctors realized male hormones were also produced by the adrenal gland, which produces about 5 to 10 percent of a male's testosterone. Doctors realized it was important to block or eliminate this source of hormones as well.

LHRH Hormonal Therapy

• The ACS describes the hormonal therapy as any type of treatment somehow affecting prostate cancer cells' ability to use testosterone to grow. The therapy may stop the body's production of hormones, or stop the cancer cells from using the hormones. Medications known as LHRH agonists (also known as LHRH analogs) is one form of the hormonal therapies that cause the testicles to stop producing testosterone.

Side Effects

• According to Us Too International, a prostate cancer education and support group, LHRH drugs can cause such side effects as impotence, hot flashes, the loss of sexual desire and the risk of bone fractures caused by the development of osteoporosis. The ACS also reports such side effects as tumor flare, constipation, bone pain, dizziness and breast swelling or tenderness.

Advantages

• Unlike the removal of the testicles, as in an orchiectomy, LHRH therapy is reversible; a man can stop taking the medication, especially if troubled by side effects. It is generally believed that men prefer the option of LHRH therapy to having the testicles removed. Also, many men feel that regularly checking in with their doctor keeps them under more active medical supervision.

Disadvantages

• Treatment costs are expensive compared to an orchiectomy as the cost continues as long as a man is under treatment. Periodic or constant dosages of the medicine can be long-term. At the beginning of LHRH therapy, some men may experience tumor flare. This is an increase in testosterone production and may case bone pain, and more serious rare complications if the tumor is near the spine. Bone thinning (osteoporosis) and its complications can occur with long-term treatment.

Expected Outcome

• According to the ACS, the expected outcome is the same as having an orchiectomy. By ridding the body of testosterone the results are commonly a decrease in prostate cancer symptoms. It is also expected that the cancer may go into long-term remission. Further, by using hormonal therapy, along with radiation as a primary treatment, survival rates are improved.