Rather than taking – and paying – for the full Zytiga dose on an empty stomach, ask your doctor if you could get the same effect from taking just one fourth of your Zytiga dose while enjoying a low-fat or high-fat breakfast.

A small phase two study of 36 prostate cancer patients who took 250 mg of Zytiga after a low-fat breakfast had almost the same outcomes as 36 other prostate cancer patients who took the regular 1000mg dose on an empty stomach. These 72 patients were from the United States and from Singapore. Their age rage was from 52 to 89 years old. The time to disease progression was nearly identical for both the breakfast eater group and empty stomach group…14 months. The study will be presented this weekend at the ASCO’s 2017 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Florida: (“A prospective international randomized phase II study evaluating the food effect on the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of abiraterone acetate (AA) in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).” abstract #176)

Russell Zelig Szmulewitz MD

In the United States, Zytiga costs more than $9000 per month, costing most patients $1,000 to $3,000 per month in co-pays. Malecare believes that financial toxicity is an important side effect from prostate cancer treatment. Imagine if a simple breakfast can reduce co-pays for Zytiga by 75%.

Patients who took the drug with food were less likely to complain about stomach discomfort than those who took the drug as recommended: fasting for 2 hours before and 1 hour after swallowing the medication. Taking the medication with breakfast seems easier, more comfortable and less expensive for patients.   If you are currently taking Zytiga or have it on your horizon, ask your doctor about this.