# EORTC 22863: improved survival with radiotherapy plus goserelin in locally advanced prostate cancer

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-bolla-eortc-22863-nejm-1997/  
OnCo record `paper-bolla-eortc-22863-nejm-1997` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Adding three years of hormone therapy to radiotherapy for locally advanced prostate cancer improved five-year survival from 62 to 79 percent, establishing long-term androgen deprivation with radiotherapy as the standard for high-risk disease.

## Summary

Phase 3 trial of 415 men with locally advanced (T3 to T4 or high-grade T1 to T2) prostate cancer randomised to external beam radiotherapy alone or with goserelin started at the beginning of radiotherapy and continued for three years.

Five-year overall survival was 79 versus 62 percent and disease-free survival 85 versus 48 percent; ten-year follow-up confirmed a persistent survival benefit (58.1 versus 39.8 percent).

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Journal: New England Journal of Medicine
- Year: 1997
- DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199707313370502
- Authors: Bolla M, Gonzalez D, Warde P, et al.
- Findings: Five-year overall survival 79 percent vs 62 percent.; Ten-year overall survival 58.1 percent vs 39.8 percent.
- What it means: Long-term androgen deprivation (18 to 36 months) with radiotherapy remains the backbone for high-risk localised prostate cancer, to which abiraterone is now added for the highest-risk men.
- Caveats: Radiotherapy doses were lower than modern standards.; Optimal duration of hormone therapy was refined by later trials (EORTC 22961, DART 01/05).

## Sources

- N Engl J Med 1997: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199707313370502
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9233866/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Localised prostate cancer, high and very high risk](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate-high-risk/)
- journals: [New England Journal of Medicine](https://onco.cc/journals/nejm/)

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