There are notable differences in the incidence and mortality rates for prostate cancer between Asia and Western countries. It is also recognized that there are differences in thinking with regard to treatment options. Recently it is also the case that opinions have been reported concerning the differences between Asian and Western patients with regard to their reaction to androgen depletion therapy (ADT). Given that ADT is a method of treatment that focuses on the elimination of testosterone, an inevitable symptom of its administration is testosterone losing syndrome. It is for this reason that in Western countries ADT has only been recommended in cases of advanced or metastatic cancer. On the other hand, in Asia, ADT is used in relatively many cases, including non-metastatic localized cancer and invasive localized cancer. To date, however, there has been little substantive discussion concerning this difference in utilization of ADT. ADT-related drugs for prostate cancer and the development of new drugs for castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) have been actively tested in recent years. It could be the case that analyzing the differences in concepts about ADT between Asia and the West could contribute to the effective use of ADT-related drugs and also help to build new treatment strategies for prostate cancer.
Keywords: Androgen depletion therapy; Asia; prostate cancer.