Two Prostate Drugs Tested; 1 Wins, 1 Loses

The first head-to-head comparison of the nation’s two most popular medicines for prostate trouble found that one gives significant relief while the other is virtually worthless.

The two medicines, Hytrin and Proscar, are taken by millions of older men to relieve the symptoms of an enlarged prostate gland. The study found that Hytrin eases men’s discomfort by about one-third, while Proscar works no better than dummy sugar pills.

For the majority of patients, Proscar is no more than “an expensive placebo,” said Dr. Herbert Lepor of New York University Medical Center, the study’s director. Prostate drugs generally cost $30 to $45 a month.

The study was financed by Merck & Co., which makes Proscar, and Abbott Laboratories Inc., which makes Hytrin. It was conducted on 1,229 men at VA hospitals. Although both companies approved the study’s design, Merck discounted its significance as publication approached in today’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

A Merck research official said that in hindsight, the study was not set up properly to answer the question of which drug is better. He said experts now know that Proscar works only in men whose prostate glands are larger than those typically seen in the study.