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All of the patients had spreading cancer that was resistant to treatment with two of the latest hormone therapy drugs, abiraterone and enzalutamide.
The trial involved three cycles of "bipolar androgen therapy" (BAT) which involves alternately flooding and starving the body of the male hormone testosterone.
The treatment is revolutionary because testosterone is generally assumed to fuel prostate cancer. For decades men with advanced and spreading prostate cancer have been treated by cutting off the supply of testosterone or blocking its effects.
In contrast upping testosterone in a man with prostate cancer is generally considered similar to pouring petrol on a fire.
Yet laboratory experiments had hinted that blasting tumours with high levels of the hormone might suppress or even kill prostate cancer cells.
The men received high dose injections of testosterone once every 28 days. At the same time, they were given a drug that stopped testosterone being produced naturally by the testicles.
Prof Denmeade said it was still not clear how the treatment worked, but it appeared to involve cell signalling and part of the process of cell division. Large doses of testosterone also seemed to cause prostate cancer cells to make breaks in their DNA.
Cancer cells stopped dividing and turned "senescent", meaning they "become like old men who sit around and tell stories but don't make much trouble", said the professor."
