I stumbled upon an abstract published at the end of February 2010 that raised a number of questions about hormone therapy (ADT) and its effect on the immune system. Coming out of the starting gate I assumed that ADT would adversely affect the immune system making us prone to falling victim to all sort of [...]
One of the constant complaints I hear fro men with advanced prostate cancer that has become castrate resistant about Provenge (sipuleucel-T) is that the anticipated increase in overall survival is only 4.1 months and given the cost of $93,000 for the three infusions many men feel that cost does not justify the survival benefit. My [...]
On September 27th Dendreon announced that it has enrolled and started its first patient with metastatic advanced prostate cancer that is castrate resistanr in a European Union based clinical trial of Provenge. Finally, men in the EU can hope that in the near future that Provenge could become available to them. The trial is hoped [...]
We all know that abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisone provides a survival advantage for men with castrate resistant advanced prostate cancer (mCRPC) who have had prior treatment with a taxane based chemotherapy. New information has shown that abiraterone acetate offers a somewhat longer overall survival benefit than the data originally presented when the trial halted [...]
The summer is coming to a close and I am back, ready to again take on the world. I had the fantastic opportunity of spending almost two weeks in Alaska, a land that is so different from the lower 48. I have to say that I have a new found respect for those individuals who [...]
A subgroup analysis of the phase III trials of Provenge (Sipuleucel-T) suggests that there might be a dramatic role for Provenge in African-American men who have advanced prostate cancer that has become castration-resistant (mCRPC). The analysis, which was released at the American Urological Association 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting, was headed up by Colonel David G. [...]
At a recent meeting that I attended it was reported by a nurse that one of her patients with advanced prostate cancer with only a PSA recurrence and lymph node involvement on a scan was rejected by their insurance company for reimbursement for Provenge. The insurance company indicated that to pay for the treatment they [...]
There has been an on-going debate on the advanced prostate cancer on-line support group about the issue of the efficacy of Provenge in light of the expectation of a person's increasing PSA number while getting the treatment. For many men with advanced prostate cancer this is a reason they elect to pass on this treatment [...]
I have heard some occasional discussion that once (that is if) enzalutamide (MDV-3100) is approved by the FDA for the treatment of men with advanced prostate cancer, it will over shadow Provenge. On the contrary, I believe that the approval of enzalutamide will actually encourage additional use of Provenge resulting in the increasing use of [...]
The recent AUA meetings in Atlanta had a number of interesting abstracts presented that concern men with advanced prostate cancer. Some of the more interesting abstracts were look back analysis of sipuleucel-T (Provenge) done by consultants for Dendreon, the company who manufactures Provenge. They took the data from the al three of the phase III [...]
