Androgen Deprivation Therapy for Prostate Cancer Did Not Increase the Risk of Retinal Vascular Occlusion: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) on retinal vascular occlusion (RVO) development in patients with prostate cancer, using data from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. A total of 1791, 1791, and 3582 patients were enrolled in the prostate cancer with ADT group, prostate cancer without ADT group, and the control group, respectively. The primary outcome was RVO occurrence, according to diagnostic codes. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to determine the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of ADT and other covariates for RVO incidence. After a follow-up interval of up to 18 years, the patients with prostate cancer who received ADT showed significantly lower RVO incidence than the control group (aHR: 0.191, 95% CI: 0.059–0.621, p = 0.0059), after adjusting for multiple confounders. Hypertension was related to higher RVO incidence (aHR: 2.130, 95% CI: 1.127–4.027, p = 0.0199). Our overall results showed that using ADT for prostate cancer did not lead to a greater risk of RVO development. In fact, the patients with prostate cancer who received ADT had lower RVO incidence than those who did not receive ADT.