Combination medical therapy for lower urinary tract symptoms and benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Medical therapy with alpha-adrenergic receptor blockers and 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors is currently considered first-line treatment for men with moderate to severe symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Given the success that has been realized with monotherapy with each of these agents, interest in combination therapy has grown. Large-scale trials to test the efficacy of such combinations are lacking; however, a few studies, such as the Medical Therapy of Prostatic Symptoms trial, have yielded results indicating that the 2 types of agents combined can reduce the risk of symptomatic progression and acute urinary retention, as well as the need for invasive therapy. More research is needed to clarify the roles of these agents in the treatment of BPH and in the optimization of patient quality of life.