New drug for prostate cancer

Xania · � #1 � 07-22-2008, 12:13 AM

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7502238.stm

Scientists are hailing a new drug to treat aggressive prostate cancer as potentially the most significant advance in the field for 70 years.
Abiraterone could potentially treat up to 80% of patients with a deadly form of the disease resistant to currently available chemotherapy, they say.
The drug works by blocking the hormones which fuel the cancer.
The Institute of Cancer Research hopes a simple pill form will be available in two to three years.

We believe we have made a major step forward in the treatment of end-stage prostate cancer patients

Dr Johann de Bono
Institute of Cancer Research

An advanced clinical trial involving 1,200 patients around the world is currently under way, with more trials likely later this year.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men.
It is estimated that up to 10,000 men a year in the UK are diagnosed with the most aggressive - and almost always lethal - form of prostate cancer.
Typical life expectancy following chemotherapy is no more than 18 months.
It had been assumed that the cancer was driven by sex hormones such as testosterone produced in the testicles.
Current treatments work by stopping the testicles from producing testosterone.
New action
However, experts have now discovered that the cancer can feed on sex hormones from all sources, including supplies of the hormone produced by the tumour itself.

The changes in my life have been dramatic

Simon Bush
Cancer trial patient

Read Simon's story

Abiraterone works by blocking production of the hormones throughout the body.

Boss · � #2 � 07-22-2008, 06:47 AM

That sounds like a really good thing, just judging by the mans reaction to it. obviously though it doesn't mean a heck of a lot right now, as the next 3 people trialed could have mild attenuation of symptoms, with no real solid relief, or they all could practically recover, or maybe only 1 in 4 does perhaps. At this stage we just don't know.

Very promising though none the less

.

Harry Hirsute · � #3 � 07-22-2008, 10:06 AM

Xania,

I just read an article about this yesterday. Here's a link:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...ands-year.html

I agree that it's promising. But, some of the media attention may paint too rosy a picture - at least in terms of how powerful the side effects may be. Here's an example:

Quote:

As the drug is newly in development, it is not yet known how many years' extra survival it can bring. But patients on the trial have so far lived longer than the estimated 12 or 18 months.

Prostate cancer is associated with ageing, and over the next 25 years it is estimated there will be a 60 per cent increase in the number of men over 65. This means there will be more cases of the cancer and abiraterone could save many thousands of lives.

It's side-effects can include loss of libido, breathlessness, fatigue, fluid retention and weight gain. Some men may be left impotent, but the effects are far less than with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Abiraterone is now being used in a 1,200-patient international study, including at ten sites across the UK. If it is licensed as expected in 2011, it will have to await approval by the rationing watchdog NICE before it is made freely available across the NHS.

If anything, it seems to me that it's effects may be stronger (both for the good and bad) than the typical hormonal approach to treating prostate cancer. I hope the end-result is a positive for the patients taking it.

Maybe I'm mistaken?

Ryan B. · � #4 � 09-23-2009, 10:37 PM

I haven't read too much on testosterone but wouldn't stopping its production cause erectile dysfunction as a side affect straight up and maybe muscle deterioration? I'm not sure but those are things that I would want to factor in before taking it, especially if it meant taking 4 of those pills for the rest of my life to keep a tumour in check.

liverock · � #5 � 09-24-2009, 02:58 AM

https://info.cancerresearchuk.org/new...ember/19372905

Quote:

Hormone therapy for prostate cancer raises heart risk

TUESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2009

Men who are given hormone therapy for advanced prostate cancer face an increased risk of heart problems, UK scientists have found.
Researchers at King's College London, who were part-funded by Cancer Research UK, discovered that while hormone therapy is associated with heart-related side-effects, certain types are less harmful than others.

The team carried out a three-year study involving 30,642 Swedish men with prostate cancer that had partially or fully spread, all of whom had received hormone therapy between 1997 and 2006.

This is an extremely important study.

- Professor Malcolm Mason, prostate cancer expert, Cancer Research UK

Three types of hormone therapy were used - removal of the testicles to eliminate testosterone production; injections of gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists to reduce the production of testosterone; and anti-androgen pills, which block testosterone from encouraging prostate cells to grow.

The researchers found that prostate cancer patients who were treated with any kind of hormone therapy had a 24 per cent increased risk of a non-fatal heart attack; a 19 per cent increased risk of arrhythmia (i.e. an abnormal heart beat); a 31 per cent increased risk of coronary heart disease; and a 26 per cent increased risk of heart failure.

They also faced an increased risk of fatal heart attack (28 per cent), dying from heart disease (21 per cent), dying from heart failure (26 per cent) and fatal arrhythmia (five per cent).
Researchers told the European cancer congress ECCO 15 - ESMO 34 that doctors should consider these side-effects when prescribing hormone therapy for prostate cancer.

Lead researcher Mieke Van Hemelrijck, a cancer epidemiologist at King's College London, commented: "We estimate that compared with what's normal in the general population, about ten extra ischaemic heart disease events a year will appear for every 1,000 prostate cancer patients treated with such drugs."

However, Ms Van Hemelrijck noted that different types of hormone therapy were found to raise the risk of heart problems to varying degrees.
She revealed: "We found that drugs which block testosterone from binding to the prostate cells were associated with the least heart risk, while those that reduce the production of testosterone were associated with a higher risk. This may have implications for treatment choice."

The team found that while men taking anti-androgen pills - which block testosterone from binding to prostate cells - still faced a slightly elevated risk of ischaemic heart disease, heart attack and heart failure, there was "no increase in risk of death from heart disease in this group".
"The finding that anti-androgens carry the least heart risk supports the view that circulating testosterone may protect the heart," Ms Van Hemelrijck added.

Professor Malcolm Mason, Cancer Research UK's prostate cancer expert, commented: "This is an extremely important study. It confirms that hormone therapies for prostate cancer do increase the risks of heart disease, something which has been suggested in other studies.
"But it also suggests for the first time that one form of hormone therapy - anti-androgen tablets - might carry less risk than other forms of hormone therapy such as injections.
"This will be an important consideration for those men at risk of heart disease in choosing hormone therapy, bearing in mind that for some patients anti-androgens may be less effective than injections in controlling the cancer."

PC sufferers should be aware that recent research has shown Vitamin D3 to be effective in some cases of PC.

/f52/4524-benefits-vit-d3-supplementation.html

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