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Volume 335:533-540 August 22, 1996 Number 8 Next

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ABSTRACT

Background Men with benign prostatic hyperplasia can be treated with ₁-adrenergic–antagonist drugs that relax prostatic smooth muscle or with drugs that inhibit 5-reductase and therefore reduce tissue androgen concentrations. However, the effects of the two types of drugs have not been compared.

Methods We compared the safety and efficacy of placebo, terazosin (10 mg daily), finasteride (5 mg daily), and the combination of both drugs in 1229 men with benign prostatic hyperplasia. American Urological Association symptom scores and peak urinary-flow rates were determined at base line and periodically for one year.

Results The mean changes from base line in the symptom scores in the placebo, finasteride, terazosin, and combination-therapy groups at one year were decreases of 2.6, 3.2, 6.1, and 6.2 points, respectively (P<0.001 for the comparisons of both terazosin and combination therapy with finasteride and with placebo). The mean changes at one year in the peak urinary-flow rates were increases of 1.4, 1.6, 2.7, and 3.2 ml per second, respectively (P<0.001 for the comparisons of both terazosin and combination therapy with finasteride and with placebo). Finasteride had no more effect on either measure than placebo. In the placebo group, 1.6 percent of the men discontinued the study because of adverse effects, as did 4.8 to 7.8 percent of the men in the other three groups.

Conclusions In men with benign prostatic hyperplasia, terazosin was effective therapy, whereas finasteride was not, and the combination of terazosin and finasteride was no more effective than terazosin alone.

Source Information

From the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center and New York University Medical Center, New York (H.L., C.M.D.); the Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center, VA Medical Center, Perry Point, Md. (W.O.W.); the Medical Practices Evaluation Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (M.J.B.); VA Medical Center and University of Washington, Seattle (M.K.B.); Merck and Company, Rahway, N.J. (G.G.); the Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Research Pharmacy Coordinating Center, VA Medical Center, Albuquerque, N.M. (C.H.); VA Medical Center, Milwaukee (M.M.); VA Medical Center, San Francisco (P.N.); and Cardiovascular Clinical Research, Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill. (R.J.P.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Lepor at the Department of Urology, New York University Medical Center, 550 First Ave., New York, NY 10016.

Full Text of this Article

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Terazosin, Finasteride, or Both in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Kuchel G. A., DuBeau C. E., Resnick N. M., Thien T., Lenders J. W.M., Lepor H.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1997; 336:293-294, Jan 23, 1997. Correspondence

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