It was announced this morning that Dendreon (the manufactures of Provenge) has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. After having spoken with a representative at Dendreon I have learned that the company has been in negotiations with its creditors and agreed to voluntarily file for financial reorganization. The agreement that Dendreon has reached with their [...]
A recent announcement stated that Dendreon’s immunotherapy Provenge (sipuleucel-T) is too expensive to be used as a treatment for advanced prostate cancer under the National Health Service in England. In preliminary draft guidelines out this morning, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has rejected the drug’s use to treat men with metastatic prostate [...]
Somehow I have been negligent and not let people know that I have written and posted a major update of my “Guide to Advanced Prostate Cancer.” As in the past, it is available as a free download from the Malecare web site. Helping me to update the book was prostate cancer survivor Craig Pynn and [...]
Provenge or Sipuleucel-T (sip-T) remains not well understood by many prostate cancer survivors as well as some treating physicians. Because Provenge does not immediately control PSA or disease progression it creates a situation where some individuals are skeptical as to its efficacy. This is true despite the clear survival advantage demonstrated in clinical trials. This [...]
Last April there was some preliminary data from the long-term Phase II STAND study presented at 29th Annual European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress that showed that sipuleucel-T (Provenge) when given after the start of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) seemed to enhance and sustain the immune response in men with a biochemical failure (PSA only) [...]