Delay in the progression of low-risk prostate cancer: Rationale and design of the Reduction by Dutasteride of Clinical Progression Events in Expectant Management (REDEEM) trial

Purpose: Men with prostate cancer may live as long as men their age without prostate cancer. Those with low-risk disease may benefit from expectant management, which actively monitors disease progression. Dutasteride, a dual 5α-reductase inhibitor (5ARI), may delay prostate cancer progression or extend the time to initiation of more aggressive therapy. Materials and methods: The Reduction by Dutasteride of Clinical Progression Events in Expectant Management (REDEEM) trial will evaluate whether dutasteride decreases time to prostate cancer progression. Three hundred candidates for expectant management with biopsy-proven, low-risk, localized prostate cancer will receive dutasteride 0.5 mg/day or placebo for 3 years. Eligible men are between 50 and 80 years of age, have clinical stage T1c-T2a prostate cancer, a Gleason score of less than or equal to 6, and serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) less than or equal to 10 ng/mL. Entry biopsy of at least 10 cores had to be performed within 6 months of screening and will be repeated at 1.5 and 3 years. Men will complete questionnaires to measure symptoms, quality of life (QOL), and anxiety. Because PSA is an important monitoring tool in expectant management that may impact patients' comfort levels, actual PSA values will be provided to physicians and subjects. Time-to-disease progression (primary therapy for prostate cancer or pathologic progression), positive cores, change in Gleason score, and QOL assessments will be compared between groups. Results: The trial completed recruitment of 302 subjects in March 2007. The study will be completed in 2010. Conclusions: The REDEEM study will evaluate the potential for dutasteride to delay disease progression in men with low-risk, localized prostate cancer. This study will better define which patients with prostate cancer can be managed with less invasive and potentially less debilitating therapy.