Over the past two to three years there have been some small studies that have indicated that the use of concomitant anticoagulants along with docetaxel (chemotherapy) may improve overall survival The most recent examination of this issue was performed by a team led by Emmanuel S. Antonarakis, MD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. They [...]
Sometimes some of us just simply decide that we will not start any treatment or continue a treatment protocol simply because we don’t want to have treatment. This type of decision is different from our deciding that a specific treatment has too many side effects for the potential upside it might provide. Researchers set out [...]
Chemotherapy using docetaxel remains an important therapy, despite the newly approved drugs, to treat hormone refractory prostate cancer. Chemotherapy improves survival, however, all men taking it will eventually become refractory to the treatment. Zoledronic acid (ZA) is the most potent member of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate family and has anti-tumor activity in prostate cancer. In a study, [...]
The FDA approved Abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisone because it demonstrated a survival benefit for men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in the pre-chemotherapy setting. Given the newness of the approval of Zytiga in this disease stage there is a lack of data on how Zytiga affects the efficacy of enzalutamide (Xtandi) or [...]
Research released at the ASCO meeting in Chicago confirms that regular exercise is a must for men with advanced prostate cancer. It was found that a regular and structured physical exercise program reduces cytokine production which is related to depression and to the inflammatory processes. According to the researchers these factors may impact prostate cancer [...]
Current practice has been to immediately begin hormone therapy (ADT) as soon as a man has a bio-chemical (PSA only) relapse. A recent presentation at ASCO 2014 has shown that immediate ADT actually offers little or no survival benefit over deferred ADT to advanced prostate cancer survivors who experience a PSA only relapse after radical [...]
As usual, we are confronted with a new contradiction. It has been believed that earl hormone therapy (ADT) in men with a biochemical recurrence (PSA only) would benefit from immediate ADT. A study released from the Harvard School of Public Health contradicts this assumption, but the study lacks follow up beyond 10 years. They evaluated [...]
Given all the newly approved drugs available to us to treat advanced prostate cancer there now are many questions about the optimal sequencing of these drugs and whether earlier use of one causes cross-resistance to another. Recently, it was reported that chemotherapy with docetaxel is inactive in men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) [...]
In our quest to understand our prostate cancer we have developed many “measures” of our disease aggressiveness and progression. Many of these measures are generally accepted has valid, but many have never been validated. One example is the prognostic nature of PSA Doubling Time (PSADT) in men with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer (BRPC or PSA [...]
One of the more recent conversations surrounding prostate cancer treatment that we have been hearing involves the use of the anti-cholesterol drugs or statins. The conversation, whether or not statins might be a good treatment option for men with both localized disease and as an alternative to hormone treatment (ADT) for men with advanced prostate [...]
