Early Compared With Delayed Hormone Therapy in Treating Patients With Nonmetastatic Prostate Cancer

Objectives I. Compare, in a randomized Phase III multi-institutional setting, symptom-free survival time of patients with asymptomatic carcinoma of the prostate (T0-4, N0-2, M0) not suited for local curative treatment who are randomly assigned to immediate vs. delayed endocrine intervention (orchiectomy or luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist therapy). II. Compare the overall survival of these two groups of patients. III. Compare the time to first evidence of distant progression (N4 or M1) of these two treatment groups. IV. Evaluate the prognostic significance of pretreatment laboratory data and monitor these parameters following endocrine therapy. V. Study the prognosis of various sub-groups of patients stratified according to performance status, local tumor extent, nodal status, and choice of endocrine treatment.