The investigators plan to register as many patients as possible, who are also participating in other SWOG prostate protocols. The participants will have about 2 tablespoons of blood drawn in addition to the blood drawn for the treatment protocol the patient is currently participating in. The blood will be sent to a special laboratory for storage and scientific testing. The purpose of this research study is to compare continuous hormone treatment to intermittent hormone treatment to determine if intermittent treatment is as effective and if it improves the quality of life for Prostate Cancer patients. Prostate cancer generally requires male hormone in order to grow.
Most male hormone comes from the testicles in the form of testosterone.
The adrenal glands also produce a small amount of male hormone. This could be accomplished by either surgery to remove the testicles, injections or implants every month to block the production of testosterone, tablets taken daily by mouth, or a combination of these. This may occur within a few months of starting the hormone treatment, or may not happen for several years. Currently, routine treatment is continuous hormone treatment. These studies show that men treated with intermittent hormone therapy do not seem to do any worse than expected, and may benefit in terms of quality of life.