As I have discussed, immunological therapy will be a significant cancer treatment option in the future, but how will it actually develop and what will it look like? Provenge (sipuleucel-T), for the treatment of men with advanced prostate cancer, was the first FDA approved autologous immunologic vaccine therapy for any type of cancer. However, Provenge [...]
In one of those situations when actual clinical practice precedes the normal drug development process a recent announcement from Janssen Research & Development, LLC (Johnson & Johnson) informs that they have un-blinded their Phase 3 study, COU-AA-302, which clearly demonstrates that Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), when taken with prednisone, is effective in treating both mildly symptomatic [...]
Denosumab (Xgeva), the recently approved and only therapy that prolongs bone metastasis-free survival in men with non-metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) who are at high risk for the spread of prostate cancer metastasis to bone seems to work best in men with very rapid prostate specific antigen (PSA) kinetics. The large 1,432 man, placebo controlled, [...]
Over the years there has been discussion about using Photo Dynamic Therapy to destroy internal tumors, including prostate cancer tumors. Until now it has only been a hope since there is no way to monitor the amount of light that is actually administered to an internal tumor. We currently use laser light in combination with [...]
As a follow up to my last post about the three posters that appeared at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium meeting I am going to share with you a video interview with Dr. Chadi Nabhan. Dr. Nabhan talks about his presentation about the phase III results of the Provenge IMPACT [...]
The American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) posted on Wednesday the abstracts from the Genitourinary Conference which is scheduled for February 2-4 in San Francisco, California. Dendreon, the creator of the immunotherapy Provenge for men with metastatic castrate resistant advanced prostate cancer has three very interesting and informative posters which will appear at the conference. [...]
Radium-223 choride, also known as Alpharadin, has demonstrated a small but statistically significant survival benefit in men with symptomatic metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). My expectation is that it will be approved by the FDA some time later this year. Additionally, my hope is that it will also be approved Europe. To read more [...]
The late-stage trial of Revlimid (lenalidomide) for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer has been discontinued after preliminary data shows that it does not extend survival! The independent monitoring committee recommended that the pivotal Phase III Mainsail trial be halted after it determined that adding Revlimid to standard treatments would not significantly increase the overall [...]
Maybe we are about to have another new treatment for advanced prostate cancer that will earn the coveted descriptor, “ON THE HORIZON.” OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OGXI) has said that they will be presenting preliminary data from their phase 2 trials evaluating their investigational compound OGX-427, in prostate and bladder cancer. The data will be presented [...]
The use of the PSA as a prostate cancer screening tool has been a controversial issue for many years. Within the last year the issue has again come to the forefront of the public awareness, especially because of the recent move of the U.S Preventative Task Force to discourage using the PSA as a screening [...]
