The FDA approval of Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) for men with advanced prostate cancer defines the men who qualify to receive the drug. To qualify you must have advanced prostate cancer and meet all of the three criteria below: 1- Men who are metastatic. 2- Men who failed hormone therapy also known as castrate resistant or [...]
The long awaited FDA approval of Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), a once-daily oral agent, for the treatment of castration-resistant, metastatic prostate cancer following docetaxel chemotherapy has happened! Malecare celebrates this approval as it celebrates the significant numbers of new drug approvals we have had over the last year and one half. The approval of Zytiga represents [...]
As usual with prostate cancer there is no general agreement about whether or not men who are on a hormone blockade (ADT) to treat prostate cancer should be taking calcium and vitamin D supplements, however there does seem to be some consensus that they should. Given that there are geographic and seasonal variations in vitamin [...]
An AP medical writer, Mike Stobb, wrote an interesting and unusual article about a survey that was conducted asking if people would be willing to spend everything they have on aggressive treatments that might prolong their life. The survey concluded that blacks and other minorities with cancer are more likely than whites to say they [...]
There have been a number of recent studies that show that statins, (cholesterol lowering medications like Lipitor) can also lower PSA and even stop the progression of localized prostate cancer from progressing. I have not been able to locate any good study that does indicate that statin medications actually stop disease progression, however I am [...]
Researchers at the The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland studied the relationship between the change of PSA doubling time (PSADT) and disease progression during intermittent androgen deprivation (IAD) therapy for prostate cancer. They retrospectively analyzed the data from 96 men diagnosed with biochemically relapsed prostate cancer (BRPC) who [...]
In 2005 there was a small clinical trial performed at UCLA evaluating pomegranate juice and its ability to control PSA for men with prostate cancer. The trial gave 8 oz. of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice each day in men with a rising PSA post treatment (recurrent advanced prostate cancer). This trial, which was funded by [...]
On March 10th (my birthday) Dendreon announced that it has obtained clearance of its new work stations from the FDA. The result of this clearance is the quadrupling the output from the New Jersey factory where it makes sipuleucel-T (Provenge). When Dendreon obtained FDA clearance in April of 2010, it had extremely limited manufacturing capabilities [...]
I have been writing about the dire need for us to reach out to our congressional delegates and demand they support funding for the Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP). If you have not yet contacted your congressional members, please do it. Don’t forget you also need to let your entire email list and address book [...]
Researchers from the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group 96.01 trial study (TROG 96.01) concluded that six months of treatment with neoadjuvant androgen deprivation combined with radiation reduced the risk for disease-specific death by 49% in men with locally advanced prostate cancer. […]
