I have been at American Association of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) since last Thursday. On the prostate cancer front the most exciting part of the meeting has been our being in Chicago and that the weather which has been fantastic. The only truly newsworthy thing that I have come across so far has been an abstract [...]
Men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and bone metastases (BM) will eventually develop debilitating pain that impacts daily functioning and diminishes their quality of life. Based on prior studies, including a phase III trial, the superiority of denosumab over zoledronic acid (ZA) in delaying or preventing skeletal-related events (pathological fracture, radiation or surgery to the [...]
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) [...]
Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the most common first therapy for men diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer as well as many men with non-metastatic prostate cancer. ADT brings with it many side effects including significant weight gain. Weight gain, which may contribute to cardiovascular comorbidities as well as diabetes, is among the many adverse metabolic [...]
There will be an abstract presented at the Upcoming (May 31- June 3) American Society of Clinical Oncologist Annual Meeting (ASCO) providing very preliminary data on a clinical trial combing Sipuleucel-T (Provenge) and enzalutamide (Xtandi) in men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). This rational for conducting this trial is the lack of cross [...]
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 [...]
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which is Britain’s healthcare cost-effectiveness agency, has determined that abiraterone (Zytiga) was not worth giving to men with castrate resistant metastatic prostate cancer who have yet to had chemotherapy. Unlike the FDA in the United States which rules only on a drug’s efficacy, NICE decides if [...]
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 [...]
It has always been assumed that Ketoconazole, when used for the treatment of men with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), would not be as potent as abiraterone (Zytiga), but there has never been any head to head comparison to demonstrate this assumption! Ketoconazole is a less potent inhibitor of the CYP-17 enzyme, the mode [...]
