High-risk prostate cancer (PCa) patients have a high risk of biochemical recurrence and metastatic progression following radical prostatectomy (RP).

To determine the efficacy of neoadjuvant degarelix plus apalutamide before RP compared with degarelix with a matching placebo.

ARNEO was a randomized, placebo-controlled, phase II neoadjuvant trial before RP performed between March 2019 and April 2021. Eligible patients had high-risk PCa and were amenable to RP.

Patients were randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio to degarelix (240-80-80 mg) + apalutamide (240 mg/d) versus degarelix + matching placebo for 3 mo followed by RP. Prior to and following neoadjuvant treatment, pelvic F-PSMA-1007 positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed.

The primary endpoint was the difference in proportions of patients with minimal residual disease (MRD; = residual cancer burden (RCB) ≤0.25 cm at final pathology). Secondary endpoints included differences in prostate-specific antigen responses, pathological staging, and change in TNM stage on prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET/MRI following hormonal treatment. Biomarkers (immunohistochemical staining on prostate biopsy [PTEN, ERG, Ki67, P53, GR, and PSMA] and PSMA PET/MRI-derived characteristics) associated with pathological response (MRD and RCB) were explored.

Patients were randomized to neoadjuvant degarelix + apalutamide (n = 45) or degarelix + matching placebo (n = 44) for 12 wk and underwent RP. Patients in the degarelix + apalutamide arm achieved a significantly higher rate of MRD than those in the control arm (38% vs 9.1%; relative risk [95% confidence interval] = 4.2 [1.5-11], p = 0.002). Patients with PTEN loss in baseline prostate biopsy attained significantly less MRD (11% vs 43%, p = 0.002) and had a higher RCB at final pathology (1.6 vs 0.40 cm, p < 0.0001) than patients without PTEN loss. Following neoadjuvant hormonal therapy, PSMA PET-estimated tumor volumes (1.2 vs 2.5 ml, p = 0.01) and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax; 4.3 vs 5.7, p = 0.007) were lower in patients with MRD than in patients without MRD. PSMA PET-estimated volume and PSMA PET SUVmax following neoadjuvant treatment correlated significantly with RCB at final pathology (both p < 0.001).

In high-risk PCa patients, neoadjuvant degarelix plus apalutamide prior to RP results in a significantly improved pathological response (MRD and RCB) compared with degarelix alone. Our trial results provide a solid hypothesis-generating basis for neoadjuvant phase 3 trials, which are powered to detect differences in long-term oncological outcome following neoadjuvant androgen receptor signaling inhibitor therapy.

In this study, we looked at the difference in pathological responses in high-risk prostate cancer patients treated with degarelix plus apalutamide or degarelix plus matching placebo prior to radical prostatectomy. We demonstrated that patients treated with degarelix plus apalutamide achieved a significantly better tumor response than patients treated with degarelix plus matching placebo. Long-term follow-up is required to determine whether improved pathological outcome translates into better oncological outcomes.