When I was on a hormone block I suffered from many side effects, among them were the classical hot flashes. Some days I found that I would have to change shirts three to four times a day; Costco loved me because I eventually became their highest volume laundry detergent purchaser. One of my doctors suggested [...]
Many members of Congress see the potential of an increased investment in the NIH as part of the solution to our ailing economy. We prostate cancer survivors can glean additional benefits from an increase to NIH funding, in our fight against this terrible disease. The belief that making an increased economic investment in research through [...]
An informative and comprehensive analysis of existing research studies evaluating the merits of early vs. deferred commencement of hormone therapy in men with advanced prostate cancer was recently published. The analysis (Wilt T, Nair B, MacDonald R, Rutks I. Early versus deferred androgen suppression in the treatment of advanced prostatic cancer. Cochrane Database of Systematic [...]
Today, Cougar Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGRB) unveiled the results from its ongoing Phase II clinical trial drug CB7630 (abiraterone acetate). The data was presented at the Prostate Cancer Foundation Scientific Retreat in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The clinical trial, which is centered at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas and was designed to look at the [...]
According to data published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2008; 26:4426-34), once a week, bisphosphonate therapy improves bone density and improves turnover in prostate cancer patients with nonmetastatic disease who are on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). A second year of bisphosphonate therapy provides additional skeletal benefit, whereas discontinuation results in bone loss and increased [...]
GTx, Inc. (Nasdaq: GTXI) has conducted a number of clinical trials using toremifene citrate in both the treatment of breast and prostate cancer. Older women and men as well as women and men being treated for both breast and prostate cancers are subject to bone loss leading to an increased risk of falls and fractures. [...]
The last few days have seen a lot of commotion and celebrating in the prostate cancer world. There have been multiple news stories of an experimental prostate cancer drug, abiraterone, that has been reported to dramatically shrink prostate cancer tumors and extend survival in 70 to 80 percent of men with aggressive prostate cancer. Abiraterone [...]
The general belief is that lymph-node positive prostate cancer patients are not curable. However, there has been some recent studies that argue against this assumption. In a study at the Department of Radiotherapy and Radiobiology Medical School, University of Vienna, Vienna , Austria seventy-five lymph node-positive prostate cancer patients were treated by radiotherapy alone (36%) [...]
Common practice is to treat men with advanced prostate cancer with androgen inhibition therapy (ADT) with or without antiandrogens (Casodex). Most of our prostate cancer will progress and develop into androgen-independent prostate cancer despite our achieving castrate testosterone levels. Dutasteride, a 5-alfa-reductase inhibitor, is commonly used in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Additional, [...]
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, have found the hormone estrogen plays a major role in about half of all prostate cancers. Their findings were published in the May 27 online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. They have found that the estrogen-linked signaling helps drive a discrete and aggressive [...]
