“Hi, I’m Dr Aaron Spitz. I’m a urologist at Orange County Urology Associates, and I’ve been prescribing LUPRON DEPOT as my first choice for the treatment of patients with advanced prostate cancer for 23 years.
When a patient of mine needs an ADT for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer, my first consideration is how appropriate the treatment is for that individual patient.
Of course, it has to be proven to work in clinical trials and in clinical practice, and it has to have an established safety profile. For my patients, it should also have multiple in-office dosing options to meet my individual patients’ needs—and so we can schedule regular monitoring.
It also has to be efficient and practical for my office to stock and administer—because that can affect the experience my patients will have while in my care, as well. LUPRON DEPOT fits all of these criteria and has done so for a long time. It’s the most prescribed ADT in my practice.
Patients with advanced prostate cancer can feel empowered when their treatment plan is guided by experience and expertise. We physicians empower our patients with the confidence they can place in our care and in the ADT we select.
For over 30 years, LUPRON DEPOT has been a market leader in ADT. It’s been a pioneer in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer by creating multiple dosing options and by developing delivery system innovations. This commitment, combined with decades of experience in using LUPRON DEPOT in my practice, continues to reinforce my confidence in prescribing it as my first choice for patients with advanced prostate cancer.
LUPRON DEPOT was the first to develop and demonstrate efficacy in 1-month, 3-month, and 4-month doses, and later a 6-month dosing option as well. While I have prescribed all dosing options, the 6-month dose is frequently prescribed in my practice.
I have a great deal of experience in the development of the 6-month dose: I participated as a researcher in the clinical trials for LUPRON DEPOT, and I was the lead author of an article published in the journal Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, which discussed the results of one trial.
In an open-label, noncomparative, multicenter study, LUPRON DEPOT demonstrated efficacy of the 6-month dose in achieving testosterone suppression at or below castrate levels for over 93% of patients from week 4 to week 48. It’s important to note that LUPRON DEPOT causes an initial increase in serum testosterone during the first weeks of treatment that may result in transient worsening of symptoms.
I have seen firsthand the benefit of the 6-month dose for certain patients in my practice. I had a patient who was fairly active into his 80s, traveling around for events where he walked to support several organizations. While this patient’s level of activity was unique, the option of getting his injections every 6 months allowed us to schedule his injections to accommodate his schedule and keep him compliant.
In many ways, the innovative delivery system that LUPRON DEPOT provides is appreciated, especially by our staff. Its design keeps both my team’s and the patient’s experience in mind.
It comes in a complete injection kit that includes a prefilled dual-chamber syringe, so there’s no external mixing required. It doesn’t have to be refrigerated, so it doesn’t take time to warm up before use, and the LuproLoc® safety device protects against accidental needlesticks. Plus, all doses have a fine, 23-gauge intramuscular needle.
In my experience, having everything my staff needs in a kit that’s ready to administer without delay helps make the process quick and efficient—and that’s something our patients value as well.”
