I have often had men recently diagnosed with advanced, metastatic prostate cancer call me and ask if surgery makes any sense for them to consider. I have never been sure how to respond given that their cancer is known to be already out of their gland. In response to this common question, researchers from the [...]
Clinical trials are used to both demonstrate that a drug or treatment has efficacy (extends life or improves the quality of life). They also are used as the vehicle to obtain approval from the governmental body responsible for monitoring and approving their use. How the trial is set up will directly dictate the eventual approved [...]
Intermittent hormone therapy (IHT) as opposed to continuous hormone therapy (CHT) provides a better quality of life (QoL) for men with locally advanced prostate cancer. However, there is a debate created by a few major research protocols that have been inconclusive as to the difference in achieving the ultimate goal, survival despite prostate cancer. Researchers [...]
Traditional hormone therapy usually consists of two types of drugs; GnRH agonists (like Lupron and Zoladex) and antiandrogens (Casodex). Although they both are drugs that manipulate the hormone system their modes of action are different. GnRH agonists block the production of the male hormone testosterone while the antiandrogen drug blocks the ability of the prostate [...]
There is a lot of evidence that pre-treatment rehabilitation (prehabilitation or pre-hab) both speeds up and benefits a patient’s recovery after surgical orthopedic treatment for knee and hip replacement as well as cardiac conditions. Having pre-hab, which is often covered by insurance after orthopedic surgery, is pretty standard. Now, based on an article published in [...]
In the treatment of prostate cancer the first very expensive drug we had that was FDA approved was Provenge, with an initial cost of $93,000 for a one-month’s treatment protocol. Today, the cost is in excess of $106,000. According to the phase III clinical trial result Provenge extends life by a median of 4.1 months, [...]
Analysis of the PREVAIL Trial showed that Enzalutamide (Xtandi) significantly increased overall survival and radiographic progression-free survival compared with placebo in men with prostate cancer who were asymptomatic and minimally symptomatic, chemotherapy-naive and who had metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Now, an additional analysis of the data has shown the effect enzalutamide also has on [...]
Appearing in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging a recent study provides data on the long-term survival of men with a biochemical recurrence after failed surgery. In the study by Giovacchini et al. it was shown that a PET/CT scan (specifically a [11C] choline PET/CT) could predict the long-term survival of men [...]
Presented in a poster at the recent European Society of Medical Oncologist (ESMO) there was a data update of the phase 3 clinical trial (CA184-043) which evaluated overall survival (OS) in men having radiotherapy (RT) followed by either the immunologic drug Ipilimumab (Ipi) or with a placebo. Initially, this trial did not meet its endpoint [...]
In my commitment to report “On the Horizon” treatments for advanced prostate cancer today I will discuss an investigational treatment known as Tasquinimod. It is an experimental treatment that is both an immunotherapy and anti-angiogenic agent (designed to prevent the development of blood vesicles which would feed a tumor allowing its growth). In phase 2 [...]
