As I have said before, the true unsung heroes of our fight against advanced prostate cancer are our caretakers. Our caretakers are our saints, they help educate us, they advocate for us, they shield us and they make us as complete as we can possibly be. They improve our lives and help us get through [...]
Some men with advanced prostate cancer have been given the antifungal treatment Ketoconazole (Keto) as a second line hormone treatment. Like Keto, this newer hormone treatment that is now available, Abiraterone acetate (AA) (Zytiga) works by inhibiting CYP17, the rate-limiting enzyme in androgen biosynthesis. The question being asked, if Keto has failed ,given its similar [...]
Since its FDA approval in 2011 FDA abiraterone (Zytiga) has supplanted docetaxel (chemotherapy), other than perhaps Provenge, as preferred first-line treatment for metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. August 2012 saw the FDA approval of enzalutamide (Xtandi) for the treatment of castrate-resistant prostate cancer after chemotherapy. Researchers performed a retrospective chart review at a large medical oncology [...]
An uncommon, but very aggressive form of prostate cancer is known as Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC). It is generally accepted that Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) counts as measured by CellSearch (a method to catch and count these cells in the blood) are prognostic for most men with metastatic prostate cancer (mPC), but are not well [...]
From: the 2014 ASCO GU Meeting Abstract No: 35 Researchers have found in a randomized controlled trial of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) the use of the treatment denosumab was superior to the more commonly used zoledronic acid (ZA) for reducing skeletal-related events (SRE). SREs are defined as a pathological fracture, surgery or [...]
The novel radiopharmaceutical radium-223 (Xofigo) appears to have long term safety with minimal adverse events. In an updated report, given at ASCO GU, on the ALSYMPCA trial of radium-233 (Xofigo), the researchers have found that there is no major safety issues identified within ~1.5 years after the completion of treatment in a population of men [...]
Men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in Québec, Canada now have access to Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) prior to having chemotherapy. Effective February 3, 2014, the province has added ZYTIGA to the public drug formulary for the treatment of mCRPC in men who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic after failure of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). [...]
After a great deal of confusion and what turned out to be an error on my part I wish to let you know that the NICE (The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) Guidance I shared on the blog on January 28, 2014 (http://advancedprostatecancer.net/?p=4360 ) about enzalutamide (Xtandi) was not accurate. In my [...]
There were many very interesting and very important items presented at the recent ASCO GU conference. Over the course of the next week or two I will be systematically reviewing many of these finds that have a direct impact on men with advanced prostate cancer. Today’s review is about how to create better results for [...]
An important update from the phase III PREVAIL study (Xtandi in the pre-chemotherapy stage) was released thsi evening (actually yesterday evening) in advance of a formal presentation this Thursday at ASCO GU. The news is good, no the news is great. Last November the trial of Xtandi in men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer [...]
