I was recently reviewing current clinical trials and came across this one for men who have failed chemotherapy, what many of us view as the final treatment for advanced prostate cancer. It provides a potential opportunity to combine two different therapy agents (one old, mitoxantrone; one relatively new, ixabepilone). Both of these chemicals are known to have activity in prostate cancer in vivo (not just in a petri dish or test tube).
The best I can tell is that this trial appears to be available only at the UCSF Helen Diller
Cancer Center at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The clinicaltrial.gov identifier is NCT00331344.
The basic rational for this trial is that drugs used in chemotherapy, such as ixabepilone, mitoxantrone, and prednisone, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells. They work either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. The hope is that giving more than one drug at a time (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells and better control the cancer
This trial is a combined phase I/II trial designed to study the effects and best dose of ixabepilone and mitoxantrone when given together with prednisone and to see how well they work in treating patients with metastatic prostate cancer that did not respond to hormone therapy and chemotherapy.
You can learn more about this trial by going to: Ixabepilone, Mitoxantrone, and Prednisone in Treating Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer.
Joel T Nowak MA, MSW
I just began the Phase II portion of this trial on 2/27/09 at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. I do not know why they are not listed as trial participants.
Enrollment may already be closed for this trial, but the contact at Dana-Farber is Judith Prisby, R.N., Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology.
After less than one week on this trial, the pain that I have been having from the bone mets has diminished significantly. In addition, the side effects of the chemo are minimal. I’m sure that it is too early to draw any conclusions or make generalizations, but to me, it offers me hope that there is life after taxotere.
Thomas,
This is great news. We all hope and pray that you continue to experience positive results. Please keep us informed about your progress.
Joel
I just had my 4th infusion this week. My PSA has dropped from 68 to 11 in about 3 months.
Recent scans show no new bone mets. Side effects have been minimal, mostly fatigue, but I seem to be feeling stronger after each cycle. I would like to have my eyebrows and eyelashes back, however.
We all pray for your continued positive progress, and thanks for participating in a clinical trial that could benefit us all. Keep the reports coming.
Joel
I just had new benchmark scans that showed no new cancer activity. I have scans about every 10 weeks, so it has been about 20 weeks since there has been any activity. Despite having to skip one chemo cycle due to a staph infection, my PSA has continued to drop to 8.5.
It seems like my biggest challenge at this point is to avoid infections and diseases that take hold due to my compromised immune system.
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