Degarelix, an advanced prostate cancer drug, rapidly reduced the risk of committing child sexual abuse among men with pedophilic disorder, a phase 2 trial in JAMA Psychiatry found.

The study involved 52 men in Sweden who were diagnosed with and seeking treatment for pedophilic disorder. They were randomly assigned to receive either 2 subcutaneous injections of degarelix acetate or a placebo.

At 2 weeks, the composite risk score of 5 domains of child sexual abuse (range, 0-15 points) decreased from 7.4 to 4.4 among participants in the degarelix group and from 7.8 to 6.6 in the placebo group. A decrease in risk score was also seen at 10 weeks in the treatment group.