Study Shows Combination Therapy Incorporating AVODART(R) and Tamsulosin Provides Continuous Symptom Improvement Ov...( PHILADELPHIA Pa. Sept. 4 /- Glaxo...),Health

PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) today announced new results from a large study that demonstrate combination treatment with AVODART (dutasteride) and the alpha blocker tamsulosin provides significantly greater urinary symptom improvement for men with enlarged prostate than either AVODART or tamsulosin monotherapy over 24 months. Three analyses from the study - Combination therapy with Avodart and tamsulosin (CombAT) - were presented today at the 29th annual meeting of the Societe Internationale d'Urologie in Paris.

In addition, one of three analyses presented -- a post hoc analysis -- showed that AVODART provides a pattern of increasing enlarged prostate symptom improvement over 24 months. Tamsulosin -- the most commonly prescribed medicine for the condition -- provided early symptom improvement, but this improvement plateaued from month three through 24.1 Common symptoms of enlarged prostate include nocturia, frequency and urgency, incomplete emptying, starting and stopping, and weak stream.

The CombAT study includes 4,800 men (combination therapy, n=1492; AVODART, n=1502; tamsulosin, n=1519) with moderate-to-severe enlarged prostate symptoms. All study participants received placebo for four weeks and then were randomized to receive AVODART and tamsulosin combination therapy, AVODART monotherapy, or tamsulosin monotherapy.

Enlarged prostate (also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)), is a condition that affects 50 percent of men over the age of 50 and more than 90 percent of men over age 80. AVODART belongs to a class of medicines known as 5 alpha reductase inhibitors (5 ARIs), which shrink the prostate over time. Tamsulosin is an alpha blocker,
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