Some good news for my neighbors immediately to my north. Enzalutamide (Xtandi) has received Health Canada’s approval for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistand advanced prostate cancer in the post chemotherapy phase.

This means that any man with castrate resistant prostate cancer, once they have received taxotere can now get Xtandi. Xtandi works by being a strong androgen receptor inhibitor. Its actual mechanism of action is to prevent any andogrins from accessing the cancer cell and fueling it. This is a similar mechanism of action as Casodex, but it is a much stronger actor allowing it to work even in men who have failed Casodex.

We are still waiting for European approval and the companies have only recently submitted their application for approval in Japan.

Joel T. Nowak, M.A., M.S.W.