Effect of dutasteride, tamsulosin and the combination on patient‐reported quality of life and treatment satisfaction in men with moderate‐to‐severe benign prostatic hyperplasia: 2‐year data from the CombAT trial

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of dutasteride and tamsulosin as combined therapy compared with each monotherapy for improving patient-reported health outcomes in men with moderate-to-severe urinary symptoms and prostate enlargement, reporting the pre-planned 2-year analyses from the CombAT trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The CombAT study is an ongoing, international, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group trial. Men aged >or=50 years with a clinical diagnosis of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), an International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) of >or=12 units, a prostate volume of >or=30 mL, a total serum prostate-specific antigen level of 1.5-10 ng/mL and a peak urinary flow of >5 and <or=15 mL/s, with a minimum voided volume of >or=125 mL, were randomized to receive 0.5 mg dutasteride, 0.4 mg tamsulosin or the combination once daily for 4 years. Symptoms were assessed every 3 months. The primary endpoint at 2 years was the change in IPSS from baseline. Secondary endpoints included various measures of health outcomes, which included the BPH Impact Index (BII), IPSS Question 8 (Q8), and the Patient Perception of Study Medication (PPSM) questionnaire. RESULTS: Combined therapy resulted in significantly greater improvements in BII and IPSS Q8 from baseline than did dutasteride from 3 months and compared with tamsulosin from 9 months (BII) or 12 months (IPSS Q8). Assessments using the PPSM questionnaire showed that a significantly higher proportion of patients were satisfied with and would request dutasteride and tamsulosin combined therapy than with each monotherapy at 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Dutasteride and tamsulosin combined therapy provides significantly greater improvements in patient-reported quality of life and treatment satisfaction than both monotherapies at 2 years, following the trends for clinical improvements in symptom scores and peak urinary flow rates, in men with moderate-to-severe BPH symptoms.