Not often discussed, but a valuable measure of prostate cancer bone activity is serum (in the blood) alkaline phosphatase. It is a normal enzyme produced naturally by the body. Everyone produces some of this enzyme regardless of his or her state of health, gender, or age. The tissues that produce the most alkaline phosphatase are the [...]
The current standard hormone therapy (ADT) for men with advanced prostate cancer is a class of drugs called Luteinising hormone-releasing hormone agonists (LHRHa). These drugs reduce serum oestradiol as well as testosterone, causing bone mineral density (BMD) loss as a side effect of the ADT. Using transdermal (skin patches) oestradiol is a potential alternative to [...]
Researchers in Hong Kong wanted to confirm the efficacy of abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) used prior to chemotherapy that had been shown in the trial setting. In their analysis they came up short; raising some very significant concerns about Zytiga’s efficacy when used prior to chemotherapy. They reviewed the clinical records of men with metastatic castrate [...]
We know that prostate cancer is a heterogeneous disease, but most of our treatments are not based on the different molecular stratification exhibited by the disease. One of the differences we do recognize in the cancer is that some of the tumors have genetic DNA-repair defects. There has been evidence that in those cancers exhibiting [...]
Prostate cancer treatment will change as we incorporate new studies into our clinical practice. One of the major emerging new trends is the earlier use of chemotherapy with androgen therapy (ADT) in men, including men who are still hormone responsive. This changing trend comes from the results from there pivotal randomized phase III trials: GETUG15, [...]
UPDATE June 9, 2016 The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to approve its FY17 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill earlier today, with only one senator, Bill Cassidy (R-LA), voting against the bill. Funding for the Centers for Disease Control's Prostate Cancer activities program was restored!!! Thanks to all of Malecare's Patient Advocacy Leaders and ALL of You who [...]
In a sudden reversal of its prior opinion the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued final guidance recommending Janssen’s Zytiga (abiraterone) to treat advanced prostate cancer before chemotherapy. Its prior recommendation was not to approve Zytiga. TAccording to NICE their decision to change their December 2015 recommendation follows the submission [...]
The PSA flare phenomenon when first starting chemotherapy with docetaxel has been noted by many clinicians. To evaluate this flare in men with castrate resistant prostate cancer treated with docetaxel, researchers retrospectively evaluated the charts of 56 men who received docetaxel-based chemotherapy in three different centers from August 1999 to August 2007. They found that [...]
There has been a lot of hype and confusion about what is the best contrast for prostate cancer PET/CT scans. The two newest contrasts; (18)F-FACBC (anti1-amino-3-(18)F-fluorocyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid) and (11)C-choline both have their supporters and their detractors. To try and evaluate the efficacy differences between these two contrasts in men who have suffered a bio-chemical recurrence [...]
The phase III trials for both Xtandi and Zytiga were similar. Both trials investigated men who progressed or died against placebo. Only 14% of men taking Xtandi during the trial progressed or died compared to 40% of the men in the placebo group. In the phase III trial of Zytiga 28% of the men [...]
