Impact of early vs. delayed initiation of dutasteride/tamsulosin combination therapy on the risk of acute urinary retention or BPH-related surgery in LUTS/BPH patients with moderate-to-severe symptoms at risk of disease progression

Purpose To evaluate the effect of delayed start of combination therapy (CT) with dutasteride 0.5 mg and tamsulosin 0.4 mg on the risk of acute urinary retention or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)-related surgery (AUR/S) in patients with moderate-to-severe lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) at risk of disease progression. Methods Using a time-to-event model based on pooled data from 10,238 patients from Phase III/IV dutasteride trials, clinical trial simulations (CTS) were performed to assess the risk of AUR/S up to 48 months in moderate-to-severe LUTS/BPH patients following immediate and delayed start of CT for those not responding to tamsulosin monotherapy. Simulation scenarios (1300 subjects/arm) were investigated, including immediate start (reference) and alternative delayed start (six scenarios 1-24 months). AUR/S incidence was described by Kaplan-Meier survival curves and analysed using log-rank test. The cumulative incidence of events as well as the relative and attributable risks were summarised stratified by treatment. Results Survival curves for patients starting CT at month 1 and 3 did not differ from those who initiated CT immediately. By contrast, significant differences (p < 0.001) were observed when switch to CT occurs >= 6 months from the initial treatment. At month 48, AUR/S incidence was 4.6% vs 9.5%, 11.0% and 11.3% in patients receiving immediate CT vs. switchers after 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively. Conclusions Start of CT before month 6 appears to significantly reduce the risk of AUR/S compared with delayed start by >= 6 months. This has implications for the treatment algorithm for men with LUTS/BPH at risk of disease progression.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the effect of delayed start of combination therapy with dutasteride and tamsulosin on the risk of acute urinary retention or BPH-related surgery in patients with moderate-to-severe LUTS at risk of disease progression. The results showed that starting combination therapy before 6 months significantly reduced the risk of AUR/S in these patients.